Giant Desert Figures Remain Blythe Mystery

A desert mystery often takes curious visitors to Blythe at the eastern edge of Riverside County. On an arid plateau above the fertile Palo Verde Valley are huge figures attributed to primitive man.

No one can say for certain whether the giant drawings are 2,000 or only 200 years old. It’s a debate that archeologists and other scientists have waged since the remarkable figures were discovered from an airplane earlier in this century.

Three man-like images, one measuring more than half the length of a football field, appear with figures of two animals thought to represent a mountain lion or a horse. A sixth image has been interpreted as a snake.

Over the years other immense desert drawings have been seen from the air elsewhere along the Colorado River basin. But the Blythe discovery, recently named to the National Register of Historic Places, is easily accessible by car. You’ll find the mysterious figures a few miles north of town and just west of California 95.

Fences now protect the images, which had suffered some damage by off-road vehicles. Although aerial views offer the best perspective, you can recognize the shapes of the figures from ground level.

On a trip via Interstate 10 to the Colorado River, or if you’re ever driving that freeway to Arizona, make a detour to see the ancient desert drawings. Go east from Los Angeles on Interstate 10 to Blythe, take the California 95/Intake Boulevard exit and head north toward Needles.

The Blythe Intaglios

After driving 15 1/2 miles past the valley’s irrigation canals and cultivated fields, look right for an early roadside historical marker describing Giant Desert Figures. Opposite is a gravel road leading to the Blythe Intaglios, as indicated on a newer sign marking the entrance to the site.

The figures are under the protection of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management, and a green box on the signpost should have copies of a guide map with a description of the images.

Continue up the mesa to an unmarked pullout in the gravel road and look right for two fenced areas that surround the first figures of an enormous man and a four-legged animal with a serpent at its feet. Walk to the fenced-in figures for a closer view.

Officially termed geoglyphs, the figures have been etched on the wind-blown mesas in the dark pebbly ground that’s called desert pavement. Locally the images are known as intaglios, an Italian term for an engraving process, opposite of a cameo. Some of the lines were created by tire tracks of vandals before the protective fences were erected. Other images scratched on the adjacent ground are graffiti left by uncaring visitors.

Three more of the old figures are a little farther up the road near another unmarked pullout for parking. One image is on the right (north) side of road, and two on the left (south) side; look again for the chain-link fences surrounding them. The largest figure measures 171 feet from head to toe.

Explore Nearby Blythe

To explore more of Blythe, head back south on California 95, running between the Big Maria Mountains and the Colorado River. You may see graceful white egrets in a small marshy area by the highway.

Farther along are irrigated fields that grow different cash crops every month of the year, including cotton, lettuce, melons and alfalfa. Before Hoover Dam was completed in 1935 to control the Colorado River, Blythe’s farmers faced ruinous floods in the spring and then droughts in late summer.

Now the regulated river is also a major destination for recreation and you can enjoy it by visiting Mayflower Park, a Riverside County park right on the water. From California 95 turn east on 6th Avenue, then north on Colorado River Road.

Park visitors like to picnic on the beach and swim in the man-made lagoon. Shaded picnic sites with barbecues also line the river’s edge. Fishing is popular, and there’s a free ramp for launching boats. Entry to the park for day use is $1.50 a car.

Several Camping Areas

Mayflower Park also has 190 tent and RV sites, many with hookups. Nightly fees are $6-$8. Make reservations, especially for holiday weekends: (714) 787-2551. More information: (619) 922-4665.

South of I-10 are other campgrounds near the water. California 78 zigzags to Imperial County and its popular Palo Verde County Park with free RV and tent sites on Oxbow Lake. Nearby are more free camping places at the BLM’s Palo Verde Oxbow Campground.

With the I-10 freeway crossing the Colorado River at Blythe, it is the state’s busiest eastern point of entry. Travelers find motel accommodations along Hobsonway, a main city thoroughfare that parallels the freeway.

Downtown Blythe

Major exits to that street in the heart of town are Lovekin Boulevard and 7th Street. Between them at 201 S. Broadway is the Blythe Chamber of Commerce with lodging and dining information and a local map. Phone (619) 922-8166.

A block away off Hobsonway is an alley-like street, Midway Place, and the tiny museum of the Palo Verde Valley Historical Society. Hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m. to noon Wednesday through Friday, and 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday evening. Donations appreciated.

Englishman Thomas H. Blythe became a San Francisco financier and acquired land in the 1870s that is the site of the city that bears his name. Photos and mementos from the early years are displayed in the museum, and you’ll also find articles with more information about the mystery of Blythe’s giant desert figures.

Return to Los Angeles by rejoining I-10 west. With more time you also can take U.S. 95 in either California or Arizona to go north and pick up Interstate 40 for an alternate route home via Barstow and I-15.

Round trip from Los Angeles to Blythe is 485 miles.