Grapevine Canyon

If you’re a hiker, its OKAY. Trail is only .25 miles long. You need to climb over some rocks, but its not a strong trail. But if you’re just visiting and wanting to see some history with the petroglyphics then it’s a site to see.
We brought our dogs to have them get good exercise but saw that it wasn’t really dog friendly either so we couldn’t go too far.

This was pretty cool
They recently graded the road in off of hwy 163 at mile marker 13. Just two miles in and a half mile walk up

On the way to Laughlan is the long dusty street of X-​mas Tree Road. It’s an easily travelled dirt road that any compact car can navigate. Just not on a rainy day. Going in about a mile or so is the parking for the Grapevine Canyon. Once you get here there is a restroom. The standard glorified stationary port o pot type national park hole in ground style pooper. The trailhead has a simple introduction to the petroglyphs that are to be seen on the canyon. The trail seemed to have been a bit washed out on a few sections during our trip this weekend. Still not that hard to follow.
The hike is about a ½ mile easy trail round trip that leads to few rocky down hill trail grades. Once you get to the edge of the canyon there’s a crazy amount of ancient Native tribal graffiti just emblazened all over the entrance rocks. What does it all mean? No one can tell really. It sure is really neat to be at a location where our human ancestors used to think was the bees knees. Once there, the exploring can be quite fun up boulders and down narrow paths. We came with the little ones and that was about as far as the tots could safely trek. Cant wait to check this place out next time without the boys so we could explore much farther in and see what all the hub bub was all about in this canyon.

Almost missed this place! Google maps may not get you to the right place so be sure to be in the lookout for Christmas tree rd. enjoyed looking at all the petroglyphs and the beautiful rock mounds. There are plenty of areas to climb and get s nice view of the valley.

This was a fun side trip. The road leading up to the canyon is a bumpy one, but take it slowly and you’ll get there just fine. We hiked up to the glyphs and beyond. My husband went a lot further than our son and I did. It was a easy hike with a little bit of climbing over rocks here and there. The trails are not maintained, but the path is easy to follow. There were people of all ages and fitness levels on the day we went. Definitely worth seeing.

This place doesn’t get the attention it deserves. How amazing is it that these petroglyphs are easily accessible, abundant and not too far from Vegas. The road that leads to the glyphs is a unpaved. My Civic was able to make the drive without problem. Just don’t come here after the rain. Glyphs are a short walk from the parking lot. It’s worth the hike through the slot canyon and waterfall which takes an hour a half from the glyphs. The trail is not maintain and light scrambling is involved.
I rate this trail as easy with some light to moderate boulder scrambling.

A definite must visit if you are in the Laughlin area as it is a short 15−20mins drive from Casino Row off 163 @ mile marker 13 which takes you to a dirt road that is Christmas Tree Pass and a dusty 2mi farther down will bring you to the parking area at the trailhead to the petroglyphs and canyon.
There are primitive restrooms at the parking area and a couple of trash receptacles, but other than that you are on your own in the desert wilderness, so make sure you plan accordingly and bring sunscreen and lots of water!
The walk to the canyon entrance and the first petroglyph rocks is an easy ¼mi one way. You can hike up to most of the petroglyphed rocks and get up close and personal, but just remember to be respectful and not touch or do anything to deface the sacred and protected archaeological relics.
The ‘glyphs are gorgeous and plentiful and you will be hard pressed to find a favorite! The hike deeper into the canyon is pretty strenuous as you will often have to make you own trail by walking over, up, and/​or sliding down several rocks/​boulders, but it is well worth the experience as the views from within the canyon and especially walking out of it facing the gorgeous red rock mountains are just breathtaking!
I highly recommend exploring this amazing site, if for nothing more than the amazing petroglyphs alone! Just be sure to allow yourself enough time to drive in and out on the dirt road (you honestly will get a top speed of 15mph as the road was pretty rutted when I drove it today) and hike in and out of the canyon as the sun sets fast and you do not want to be stranded out there at night. I drove from the Aquarius and spent just over 3hrs total from the hotel and back with some pretty in depth hiking and picture pitstops.
Also beware of snakes and other dangerous wildlife. I did spot a couple slithering away today when I was hiking up towards the shallow caves near the canyon entrance.

One of my favorite hiking spots in the area. I love seeing the neat carvings that are a bit higher than your normal hike path. It is filled with lots of old history and a great hike for the family. :)

We were in Laughlin for a couple days and wanted to check out the area. I’m not a huge ‘glyph buff but the canyon is close to town and easily accessible. The directions on
and these reviews are accurate, the road is bumpy but driveable. It IS hot, we went on Sept 1, but the walk to the petroglyphs is only half a mile or so. This is a good way to get a desert feel without much risk, I would definitely take my 6 to 12 year old grandkids. We were watching closely for snakes, I have to assume they’re there but we saw none, just some small lizards, desert chipmunk (well, that’s what it looked like!) and birds. The spring is about 100 – 150 yards beyond where the canyon narrows, and you have to hike up/​through/​around/​over some rocks but the reasonably fit will have no difficulty. The scenery is beautiful.

Grapevine Canyon is an ancient watering place for human gathering and journeys from Southern and Baja California to the Lower Colorado River region. In gathering and passing, people left the marks of their tribes, clans and what they saw and did. The rock art makes the canyon a popular spot for day hikers.
A LOT of people come here. There is trail head parking and well kept campground toilet facilities. If you are weak of nose, outhouse contents gag ya, cold and hot seats bug ya, stop in Laughlin for your personals. Water and whatever it contains rush as easily through the sandy soils of the Mohave Valley as valley winds lift clouds of dust.
The story behind colored rock surfaces in the desert southwest is a long one. The desert varnish coatings of the region are 12 – 250,000 years old. Wind blown manganese, iron and other minerals stick to surfaces moistened by rain and dew. Microbes help stick the mixture to the rock. If a stone or boulder has a thick coating, scientists can examine the microscopic layers and tell you how long that rock or boulder has been undisturbed in the spot where you find it. At Grapevine Canyon, some time since 2,000 B.C. people chipped their stories through the varnish into the stone below.
The disrespectful have removed, defaced or soiled the work of North America’s first dwellers. A crew of dedicated volunteers have scrubbed off spray paint and paintball remnants, fading some of the petroglyphs. Traditional Native American Indian people thought of the generations to come when decisions were made. Modern humans seem to have thought enough to get between TV commercials. Thousand visit this spot. One or four thoughtless people can destroy it in minutes. The Park Service has volunteer guards. One disappeared a few minutes but caught exiting paintballers who did the last major batch of defacing. They had some of their time on earth set aside to to think about their actions. It took weeks for volunteers with toothbrushes and Ivory soap to scrub off the oil-​based paint from a few minutes of paintball fun. Paint was cleaned off, desert varnish removed.
Grapevines grow because there is water. The water flows most of the year. Between the short-​duration higher intensity storms climate change brings, and the many people hiking the canyon, soil and vegetation move downstream. A flash flood out of Grapevine Canyon would be memorable. The swimming holes have washed away or filled with sand, the earth is bare where grapevine thickets filled the creek bottom. Hikers are walking new trails into the erosive decomposed granite soils. Storms wash them out. Beatrice Jacobo, Environmental Technician for the Fort Mojave Tribe, had Grapevine Canyon water tested. She strongly advised not drinking it due to microbe content.
Do what you can to be careful and respectful of the millions who’ve trod before you and the millions who’ll follow.

This is an amazing sight only about 10 minutes from Laughlin.
Be careful as google maps comes up with several different locations for Grapevine Canyon. Head west on Highway 163 from Laughlin. Keep an eye out for Christmas Tree Pass Road and make a right. Drive straight about 1.5 miles on this dirt road, then make a left when you see the sign for the canyon. There is a small dirt parking lot. Proceed along or through the dry riverbed to the mouth of the canyon. Climb up the small hill on the right before you enter the canyon. There are some very nice petroglyphs to the right of the canyon mouth that most people miss.

I went to Grapevine Canyon expecting a bit more than a half-​hour trip, but it was still worth the trip. Beautiful desert scene plus some amazing — and amazingly accessible — petroglyphs. Again, more than worth the drive. If you’re in Laughlin or Bullhead, it’s a fun little side trip that’ll take you out of the casinos/​river life for a while.

went to laughlin during new years week. it was our second day and we didn’t know what to do. so i searched things to do around and this was one of them. it was like 2pm and we didn’t want to gamble this early! so we decided to go here. you go about 6 miles west on highway 163 toward Vegas and search light. on the right side you will see christmas tree pass here you make a right and take a dirt road for 2 miles. on the left is a small parking lot. you then follow a trail that is marked by some signs about old stuff lol and not moving or destroying it.
so the day we went there were about 4 other cars there. it looked lonely but as we got closer to the rocks we saw more people. i didn’t get to see any wild animals. just 3 dogs that were with their owners. the day was cold and really windy!!! but the sun was out.
the Petroglyphs were really cool. they seemed unreal, it didn’t look as if they were old. many different pictures on the rocks.
i suggest you go here to look at this really interesting stuff plus the walk is not bad and not long. just perfect.

Yup, this is a great place to see Petroglyphs. However, I wouldn’t recommend going there during summer. It gets awfully hot! Make sure you take lots of water with you. I was there during middle of summer but I made sure I get there early in the morning when its a little cooler. I saw lots of wild animals in the area. I saw hawks flying above and also saw hares running around. Majority of the Petroglyphs are easily accessible but some are way up on the cliff. I love petroglyphs, they sure beat the graffitis I find here in Los Angeles. :-)

Petroglyph sites are typically off the beaten path, but the Grapevine Canyon Petroglyph site is a relatively convenient stop near Laughlin, Nevada. Drive about five miles west of Laughlin on Highway 163 until you reach the Lake Mead Recreation Area. Be on the lookout for Christmas Tree Pass Road, then make a right. Drive about 2 miles on this very flat dirt road, then make a left toward the primitive parking lot. You’ll soon see an opening to a rock canyon to the west and the simple hike to the petroglyphs there takes only about ten minutes.
You’ll be overly-​rewarded for your simple efforts because these petroglyphs are some of the best in Nevada for both quantity and quality. Bring your camera because taking great photos is quite easy because the hundreds of images are so articulate and pronounced. Many appear as if they were etched only yesterday.
Supposedly, these petroglyphs date from AD 1100 – 1900 and I can see why the area was popular with the Mohave people: the canyon is shady with grasses interspersed among the rocks. Water pools quenched the thirst of humans and animals. If you look carefully among some of the higher rocks in various sections of the canyon, you’ll see elegant depictions of bighorn sheep.
Put your deck of cards aside for awhile and venture out to one of the more fantastic petroglyph sites in the southwest.