Round Trip Distance: 0.1 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation: 1,884 - 1,909 feet
Cellphone: 0 bars
Time: 30 mins.
Trailhead: Hiko Springs
Fee: none
Attractions: petroglyphs
The Hiko Springs Petroglyph Site is located 9 miles west of Laughlin, Nevada just off of Nevada Highway 163. There are maybe a score or more of petroglyphs at the site that still show up quite well.
Highway 163 climbs out of the valley along the Colorado River as it heads west from Laughlin. At the 8 mile point the road to Christmas Tree Pass and Grapevine Canyon branches off on the right. As you continue past that point the highway bends around a 90 degree corner and begins descending. Near the 9 mile point from Laughlin there is an unmarked dirt road on the east side of the highway right before a wash. This is the road, or trail, that leads to Hiko Springs.
The road base is composed of small gravel and sand but should be passable by most vehicles. If you have doubts about your vehicle it is only a half mile from the highway to the petroglyphs.
All the petroglyphs that we found were on the short cliff on the left side of the wash right where the road makes a loop and comes to an end. There are a few more petroglyphs on the south side of the higher ridge in this photo.
It is interesting that there are at least 2 or 3 different colors of rock that make up the same area of cliffs. The different colors make each panel of images look a little different from the others.
The images in this photo closely resemble many of those that are at Grapevine Canyon.
We were wondering whether this image would have been rotated 90 degrees to the right if the rock surface would have allowed for it.
There are some nice images on a section of cliff that has a tree and some brush growing in front of it that makes it really hard to get in there for any photos.
We tried this image from both sides but never could get a good angle to capture it all. We weren't sure how the BLM would feel about us trimming the trees a little so we didn't.
Up near the point of the cliff on the north side of the wash is another panel with a few images.
There are probably at least a dozen images on this panel although all but one are more faded.
While Hiko Springs is a relatively small site in comparison to the nearby Grapevine Canyon Petroglyphs it is easy to access and well worth stopping at while in the area. There are also some petroglyphs in Bridge Canyon which is the next canyon to the north. Access to that canyon can be made from the Laughlin side of the ridge. As far as the Hiko Springs Petroglyphs go, if you would like to see them for yourself all you have to do is 'Take a hike'.
