Grimes Point

Along an old shoreline of Lake Lahontan lies a field of black basalt boulders, their surfaces glossed by desert varnish and pecked with rock art—hundreds of carved boulders, some of the engravings perhaps seven thousand years old. Many are simple pits and grooves, thought to be among the oldest rock art in Nevada. A short interpretive trail, the first of its kind in the state, loops through the boulders just east of Fallon. A mile on, Hidden Cave keeps the deeper story, opened only on guided tours.

What the plaque says

Prehistoric Rock Art Site. Grimes Point, one of the largest and most accessible petroglyph sites in northern Nevada, contains about 150 basalt boulders covered with petroglyphs. Nevada petroglyphs were of magico-religious significance in insuring the success of large game hunts and were located near seasonal migration routes. Running east and west along the ridge, on the hill above the petroglyphs, there is evidence of an aboriginal drift fence for driving deer or antelope. This required concentrated group action in construction and operation. The act of making a petroglyph was a ritual performed by a group leader before each hunt. Evidence suggests that there existed a powerful taboo against tampering in places, for purposes, and by persons other than those directly associated with the hunt. Petroglyphs probably date between 5000 BC and 1500 AD.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Grimes Point — 0.6 mi
  Hundreds of desert-varnished boulders carved over eight thousand years — the Great Basin's most accessible rock art
• Sand Mountain — 16 mi
  Nevada's largest dune — a 600-foot mountain of singing sand, a buried Pony Express station, and a butterfly found nowhere else

More markers nearby

• Oats Park School — 8.2 mi
• Churchill County Courthouse — 8.6 mi
• Pony Express Route- 1860 Sesquicentennial 2010 — 8.9 mi
• Stillwater — 9.9 mi