Just outside Laughlin, Nev., you'll find the exit to amazing Grapevine Canyon.
It's a mile-and-a-half drive on a smooth, graded and ranger patrolled gravel road to the trailhead. Here you'll find a passageway that dates back centuries.
Walk up the easy, one-mile trail and witness the announcements of our continental forebears.
Carved into the rocky walls of the canyon mouth, these enigmatic looping, geometric and curvy lithic inscriptions are akin to the sacred frescoes found in cathedrals.
Billboards of deep and old hopes and needs, Grapevine Canyon's petroglyphs are to be seen only. Even the slightest contact with human hands is incredibly destructive to these carvings.
During spring and summer, wild grapevines fill the canyon's stream bed. Small waterfalls can be found in wetter months, too.
The rocky mountain peak above Grapevine Canyon is known as Spirit Mountain and is sacred, like the canyon, to the Yuman tribes of the lower Colorado River region.
The continuing road over Christmas Tree Pass is recommended only for high-clearance/four wheel-drive vehicles.
-- Review by Greg Thilmont
