CrazyDrei
Space Monkey
DAY TRIP: Gold Butte National Monument
Gold Butte National Monument is one of the BLM places that is stuck in the cross roads of Archeological Protection Act of 1979, National Monuments desegnated by Obama under the Antiquities Act and liberal teared uneducated public that want to be able off-road climb and deface BLM land as they see fit without any regulation from the federal government or the private sector. I am all for designating these area National Monuments which will progress into a National Parks just like Death Valley did in 1994. This is not up for debate here.
We visited: Falling Man petroglyth site, Mud Wash Narrows, Little Finland, Devil's Throat and Rocky McRockface before heading back home. Covered 86 miles of dirt and 4x4 trails and 204 miles of highway.
We started near Mesquite Nevada and took exit 112 on I15 heading south towards Riverside bridge. Once over the bridge, first immediate right is the begining of Gold Butte biway. We did not stop by Calel Safarri/preserve/farm just before the bridge.
This is the Bundy ranch of Cliven Bundy who did not like the laws or paying grazing fees that would make his free grazing ranch unprofitable and had a armed stand off with the federal government in 2014.
We continued to the Falling Man Petroglyth and Pictoglyth site. With a 2 year old walking and a 1 year old in the backpack we were limited by our time and the kids patience to explore the 1.5miles of trails in this area.
Calvin's Rock art
More Calvin's Rock art
Native American depiction of corn, apparently this is rare in the desert, at the entrance of the Tunnel.
Goats near the Tunnel.
Not sure what this is but it's right outside the Tunnel.
Falling Man
Kiddo exploring the huercos.
Lower wall of the amphitheater.
Upper wall of the amphitheater.
Newspaper rock.
At the mouth of Mud Wash narrows.
Mud Wash Narrows
Continuing down Mud Wash Narrows.
Locals, not Bundy's cattle.
Sunset lighting up the beautiful Aztec Sandstone of Little Finland.
Giant pal trees growing under the Aztec sandstone of Little Finland where the water filters through the stone and provides ample year round water for these palms.
More locals, a heard of burros near Devil's Throat.
Devil's Throat was once an underground cavern possibly filled with gypsum, many years of water passing through the area dissolved the gypsum and a weakened cavern collapsed onto itself. approximately 75 feet wide and over 125 feet deep at it's deepest point.
This is as close as I could get to the edge before my wife reeled me in.
On the last leg of the journey it got really dark really quick and the pictures of Rocky McRockface did not turn out well. We continued north on a well maintained New Gold Butte Rd back to Riverside bridge and to I15.
This was a great adventure where we got to explore Gold Butte National Monument as well as the remote areas of Lake Mead NRA where I did not see any new tire tracks since the last rain over a month ago.
Stay tuned for more shenanigans!
Gold Butte National Monument is one of the BLM places that is stuck in the cross roads of Archeological Protection Act of 1979, National Monuments desegnated by Obama under the Antiquities Act and liberal teared uneducated public that want to be able off-road climb and deface BLM land as they see fit without any regulation from the federal government or the private sector. I am all for designating these area National Monuments which will progress into a National Parks just like Death Valley did in 1994. This is not up for debate here.
We visited: Falling Man petroglyth site, Mud Wash Narrows, Little Finland, Devil's Throat and Rocky McRockface before heading back home. Covered 86 miles of dirt and 4x4 trails and 204 miles of highway.
We started near Mesquite Nevada and took exit 112 on I15 heading south towards Riverside bridge. Once over the bridge, first immediate right is the begining of Gold Butte biway. We did not stop by Calel Safarri/preserve/farm just before the bridge.
This is the Bundy ranch of Cliven Bundy who did not like the laws or paying grazing fees that would make his free grazing ranch unprofitable and had a armed stand off with the federal government in 2014.
We continued to the Falling Man Petroglyth and Pictoglyth site. With a 2 year old walking and a 1 year old in the backpack we were limited by our time and the kids patience to explore the 1.5miles of trails in this area.
Calvin's Rock art
More Calvin's Rock art
Native American depiction of corn, apparently this is rare in the desert, at the entrance of the Tunnel.
Goats near the Tunnel.
Not sure what this is but it's right outside the Tunnel.
Falling Man
Kiddo exploring the huercos.
Lower wall of the amphitheater.
Upper wall of the amphitheater.
Newspaper rock.
At the mouth of Mud Wash narrows.
Mud Wash Narrows
Continuing down Mud Wash Narrows.
Locals, not Bundy's cattle.
Sunset lighting up the beautiful Aztec Sandstone of Little Finland.
Giant pal trees growing under the Aztec sandstone of Little Finland where the water filters through the stone and provides ample year round water for these palms.
More locals, a heard of burros near Devil's Throat.
Devil's Throat was once an underground cavern possibly filled with gypsum, many years of water passing through the area dissolved the gypsum and a weakened cavern collapsed onto itself. approximately 75 feet wide and over 125 feet deep at it's deepest point.
This is as close as I could get to the edge before my wife reeled me in.
On the last leg of the journey it got really dark really quick and the pictures of Rocky McRockface did not turn out well. We continued north on a well maintained New Gold Butte Rd back to Riverside bridge and to I15.
This was a great adventure where we got to explore Gold Butte National Monument as well as the remote areas of Lake Mead NRA where I did not see any new tire tracks since the last rain over a month ago.
Stay tuned for more shenanigans!
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