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Rock Art at Keyhole Canyon
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Keyhole Canyon
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Keyhole Canyon

Overview

Keyhole Canyon is an amazing Archeological area with many petroglyphs and a few pictographs (collectively referred to as Rock Stories). Most of the images are geometric symbols rather than representations of physical things, but a few petroglyphs depict bighorn sheep, lizards, and humans. In most petroglyph sites, the rock stories are fairly close to the ground, but here many are unusually high on the cliffs.

Keyhole Canyon cuts into the side of a granitic ridge that juts so abruptly out of the desert flats that visitors can drive right up to the edge of cliffs and park at the mouth of Keyhole Canyon. The mouth of the canyon, about 50 yards wide, narrows abruptly, and about 500 ft up the canyon, a 50-ft, water-sculpted and water-polished pour-over blocks easy progress up the canyon. The short canyon creates the feeling of being in a deep alcove in the cliffs rather than being in a canyon in the mountains.

Link to Site Map.

Keyhole Canyon

Many rock faces, especially those facing south and west, are covered in desert varnish, a naturally occurring dark patina that forms on the surface of rocks in the desert. Native peoples created petroglyphs by pecking away the desert varnish to reveal the underlying light-colored rock. Native peoples also used pigments to paint images, a few of which can still be seen. There are also some unusual petroglyphs where Native people carved into softer parts of the rock; some of these appear to be extremely old.

There are many rock faces (panels) in the area with petroglyphs that are easily accessible from the ground; other petroglyphs are high on the canyon walls. Most of the petroglyphs are located on the north wall of the canyon and along the west-facing cliffs north of the mouth. At the mouth of the canyon on the north side, large boulders provide surfaces for many fine petroglyphs. At the mouth of the canyon on the south side, there are some nice petroglyphs on the west-facing wall just above the parking area. There are a few more petroglyphs farther south along the cliffs.

Keyhole Canyon

There are so many petroglyphs at or near ground level that there is little need to climb the walls to get close-up views of the higher petroglyphs. If you do climb to the higher ones, don't climb on the petroglyphs, and keep in mind that granite is very slick compared to the limestone and sandstone that are common in southern Nevada. I saw one kid slip and take a pretty long slider into the wash; fortunately, he landed in soft gravel and walked away.

Keyhole Canyon

Location

Keyhole Canyon is located on BLM land between Boulder City and Searchlight off highway 95. A carefully driven sedan can usually get to near the trailhead, but a medium-clearance vehicle would be better. For a description of the road and driving instructions, see Keyhole Canyon Road.

Hours

Keyhole Canyon is always open, as is the well-used camping area at the mouth of the canyon. There are no established campsites, but several large campfire rings are scattered about. In the old days, an outhouse was located at the parking area, but it is long gone.

Fees

None.

Main Canyon

Keyhole Canyon
Trailhead parking (view E)
Keyhole Canyon
Hiker walking through the trailhead gate (view E)
Keyhole Canyon
General information signs
Keyhole Canyon
Archeological information sign
Keyhole Canyon
Hiker in the wide mouth of the canyon (view E)
Keyhole Canyon
Wall with many petroglyphs (view NE)
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Keyhole Canyon
A narrow spot that separates the upper and lower areas (view E)
Keyhole Canyon
Pictograph under a boulder
Keyhole Canyon
Pictograph under a boulder
Keyhole Canyon
Entering the upper part of the canyon (view E)
Keyhole Canyon
Messages on the wall
Keyhole Canyon
Continuing into the upper part of the canyon (view E)
Keyhole Canyon
Approaching the end of the canyon (view E)
Keyhole Canyon
Hiker approaching end of the canyon (view E)
Keyhole Canyon
Nicely sculpted and polished granite (view E)
Keyhole Canyon
Approaching end of the canyon; route turns corner (view E)
Keyhole Canyon
Hiker at end of canyon; we're not climbing that one today (view E)
Keyhole Canyon
Hiker below the pour-over (view E)
Keyhole Canyon
Water dripping down the rock (view up)
Keyhole Canyon
Narrow slot in the pour-over (view up)
Keyhole Canyon
Base of the pour-over, starting back down (view N)
Keyhole Canyon
Hiker exiting the end of the canyon (view SW)
Keyhole Canyon
Hiker heading back down (view SW)
Keyhole Canyon
Upper part of the canyon, heading down (view W)
Keyhole Canyon
Route passes right of boulder (view SW)
Keyhole Canyon
Top of the boulder (view SW)
Keyhole Canyon
Narrows that separates the upper and lower sections (view W)
Keyhole Canyon
Returning to the trailhead (view W)

Shaman's Workshop

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Keyhole Canyon
Shaman's outdoor workbench with many cupules
Keyhole Canyon
Shaman's outdoor workbench with many cupules
Keyhole Canyon
A particularly interesting spot: shaman's indoor workbench
Keyhole Canyon
Shaman's indoor workbench with many cupules
Keyhole Canyon
Shaman's indoor workbench with many cupules
Keyhole Canyon
Shaman's indoor workbench with many cupules
Keyhole Canyon more to come

North End

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Keyhole Canyon more to come

Miscellaneous Photos from throughout the area

Keyhole Canyon
Unusual carved petroglyph
Keyhole Canyon
A common symbol here
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Table 1. Hiking Coordinates based on GPS data (NAD27; UTM Zone 11S). Download Hiking GPS Waypoints (*.gpx) file.

Wpt. Location UTM Easting UTM Northing Elevation (ft) Point-to-Point Distance (ft) Cumulative Distance (ft) Verified
01 Keyhole Trailhead (gate) 687631 3954174 2,894 0 0 GPS
02 Keyhole Pour-Over 687759 3954089 2,891 533 533 GPS

Happy Hiking! All distances, elevations, and other facts are approximate.
copyright; Last updated 240602

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