Round Trip Distance: 0.4 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation: 427 - 484 feet
Cellphone: 0-3 bars
Time: 1 hr.
Trailhead: Sears Point
Fee: none
Attractions: petroglyphs
The Sears Point Petroglyphs are located about 8.5 miles north of I-8 and 36.5 miles west of Gila Bend, Arizona. Covering a large area, Sears Point has more than 2,000 panels of petroglyphs spread out in over a half dozen clusters as well as one large geoglyph. According to the BLM kiosk at the trailhead there are three separate styles of petroglyphs at Sears Point which include Western Archaic Tradition Style (10,500 BCE to about 2,300 BCE), Gila Style (300 BCE - 1450 CE), and Patayan Style (beginning at 500 CE).
To get there, take I-8 Exit 78 and follow Avenue 76 East north for 8.5 miles to the trailhead and kiosk. As this is a well known location you can enter 'Sears Point' into your driving app for turn-by-turn directions. The road starts out suitable for highway vehicles but toward the end something with at least medium ground clearance will probably be needed. What we are labeling as areas III & IV begin northwest of the trailhead.
In these areas petroglyphs can be found from the bottom of the hills all the way up to the rim of the cliffs.
Most of the images show up very well making them easy to spot.
This boulder has two of the diamond shapes mentioned on the trailhead kiosk.
The side of the boulder strewn hill is a bit steep. A lot of scrambling is required to get around to the different petroglyphs to take photos.
At the base of the cliffs, where there is a chain of large panels, the walking becomes easier.
The images along the cliff appear to include many of the older style.
For these, hunting themes appear more prevalent.
Looking back at yet another panel.
A couple of animals playing patty cake.
A trail of smaller panels can be followed around the rim heading west toward the next hill.
Eventually a few larger panels begin appearing. This one might be Western Archaic as it looks older and the style is a little different.
And this one looks to be of the newer Patayan Style.
We could go on for some time showing petroglyphs that are found on different boulders here and there. Most, but not all, of them are part of the following slideshow.
