Mojave art on the rocks

LITTLE PETROGLYPH CANYON

Naval Air Weapons Station, China Lake

Near Ridgecrest, Kern County

No one knows for sure who decorated Little Petroglyph Canyon with images out of a dreamscape, some thought to be more than 10,000 years old. Or why the basalt walls of a narrow wash in the bone-dry Coso Mountains at the northern edge of the Mojave became a magic canvas for flocks of bighorn sheep, hunters with bows and arrows poised and more. But the area is probably the richest Amerindian rock-art site in the hemisphere. To see the canyon, you must contact the Navy base or join a tour offered by Maturango Museum. It’s a rough 40-mile drive to the trail head, followed by a hike and a scramble along the canyon. Visits only in spring and fall.

Info: Maturango Museum, 100 E. Las Flores Ave., Ridgecrest, CA 93555; (760) 375-6900, www.maturango.org. Private tours through the Naval Air Weapons Station, (760) 939-1683.