May 21 is a SUNDAY, so be aware of that.
Meet at 9:00 AM at the Terrible's/McDonalds at the top of the hill on highway 95 through Searchlight. We'll roll at 9:30. We'll be taking Route 164 toward Nipton, and leaving this road for the dirt a few miles outside of Searchlight.
The trail heads through a beautiful forest of large Joshua Trees. Part of this forest, though not the part we're going through, is officially called the Wee Thump Joshua Tree Wilderness Area. Wee Thump is Yuman for “ancient ones” , and it refers to the ancient Joshua Trees of the area. We'll take a brief detour from the main trail to see some petroglyphs, and stop to inspect an old cattle corral that has a curious water tank, with a few more petroglyphs nearby. The trail eventually dips down into a wash that winds its way through the Highland Mountain Range. We'll stop at Cow Spring, where there are some old stone walls/foundations, and a spring that may have a bit of water. We'll also take a side trip up to a very large guzzler maintained for Bighorn Sheep. This site overlooks a rather stunning dropoff. Eventually, we'll end up on a powerline crossroad, head across highway 95, and check out Keyhole Canyon. This spot boasts a slot canyon and waterfall (though I have never seen any water falling here), a bunch of petroglyphs, a few pictographs, and some odd pits carved in the rock.
This will be an all-day affair. Much of the route is easy, not even really needing 4WD. But, there are a few tricky sections that rate 2.5. There is also a high probability of desert pinstripin (ie. vegetation that will scratch your vehicle).
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