Round Trip Distance: 0.14 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation: 4668 - 4671 feet
Cellphone: 0-3 bars
Time: 30 mins.
Trailhead: Boundary Road
Fee: none
Attractions: petroglyphs
The Boundary Boulder is located 15 miles northwest of Bishop, California on the Inyo County side of the Inyo/Mono County line. The boulder, which probably has a score or more of petroglyphs, sits on a slightly elevated spot, on the edge of what is now called Round Valley, within about 300 feet of Little Rock Creek.
To get there from the junction of US-395 and CA-168, in Bishop, drive north on Main Street/US-395 for 0.86 miles and keep left to stay on US-395 N. Continue on US-395 N for another 12 miles and from the left lane turn left and cross US-395S bound onto the Lower Rock Creek Connector Road. After another 1,000 feet turn right onto the Lower Rock Creek Road. Continue for 1.8 miles and turn left onto the Boundary Road where a small parking area will be on the right.
There are rocks everywhere you look but the Boundary Boulder is across the road in the general area of the red arrow.
Several faint trails lead toward the Boundary Boulder which is only about 400 feet from the trailhead.
It is pretty easy to spot a small group of granite boulders and pick out the one with the petroglyphs. The upright boulder in this photo is noticeable from a distance and serves as a good guide point.
Most of the images are on the sides and top edges of the boulder.
The images that aren't in direct sunlight show up better. It would be worthwhile to bring the sunscreen from your vehicle to cast a shadow for better photos and viewing.
We were wondering whether some of the images might be part of a map. Notice the shallow 'golf ball' like dimples that were pounded into the top of the right side of the boulder in this photo.
Several anthropomorphic images are mixed in with all the rest. We couldn't tell for sure if this image was of a female giving birth but that is how it appears.
Here is a wider view of the scene.
Looking across the valley there are some pretty incredible views of the nearby mountains.
There are a lot of low rows of stacked rocks all around the valley floor in this area. From what we could discover they once served as sheep corrals. It's kind of funny that bighorn sheep and all of their cousins would treat the short walls as something to play on whereas they are a sufficient obstacle to corral domestic sheep.
