Round Trip Distance: 2 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation: 3139 - 3489 feet
Cellphone: 0-3 bars
Time: 2 hrs.
Trailhead: 35.38037, -117.54019
Fee: none
Attractions: petroglyphs
The Steam Well Petroglyphs are located in the Golden Valley Wilderness Area near Red Mountain, California. Found at the site of an old mine and well, on the opposite hillsides above the wash, are a nice assortment of archaic petroglyphs. There is also a ruin down in the wash near the well but it seemed likely that it might be an historic ruin built by the miners although it could be an ancient ruin that was repurposed for their use.
For turn-by-turn directions to the trailhead enter 35.38037, -117.54019 into your driving app. From US-395, just north of Red Mountain, you will be directed onto the Trona Road for 1.3 miles where you will turn right onto the dirt road RM1444. (There are primitive campsites here that will accommodate RV's.) After turning onto RM1444 it is 4 miles to the trailhead which is a small pullout on the left side of the road. RM1444 is uneven in places but during good conditions 4WD isn't necessary. A little ground clearance does help.
The trail starts out on a serpentine rock lined garden like path before joining an old 4WD road. From there it makes a gentle climb toward Steam Well. Right before the well the trail splits. Watch for a short post with trail markers directing you to the left. Continuing to hike you will come to the fence posts in this photo.
Looking up the wash from the fence you will be able to see the location of both petroglyph sites on opposite sides of the wash. There are no official trails so pick the route that suits you best.
The site on the left side of the wash has a central concentration of petroglyphs that is surrounded by more images on nearby boulders.
Most of the images are typical of what we have seen elsewhere in this part of California.
Variations of this image are common.
This images is on a boulder about 20-30 feet from the main panels where other individual boulders also have images.
This boulder is on the hill on the north side of the wash.
A lot of the images here are much easier to see.
Some of the images on the north hill may have been part of a calendar site.
If you hike around to the backside of the rocky outcrop you will find a few anthro images.
Continuing on around to the west side of the outcrop you will find this circle cross on a rock that is perched all the way on top of the pile. More images can also be found scattered around on boulders all around both hills.
The Steam Well Petroglyphs are accurately marked on some old topo maps making them very well known. They are somewhat protected by the Wilderness Boundary that discourages casual visitors by requiring a little effort to visit them.
If you would like to see them for yourself then all you have to do is 'Take a hike'.
