Chalfant Valley Petroglyphs

This area appears to be the petroglyph equivalent of the Library of Congress! You could spend half a day or a lifetime studying these cryptic messages from the past. Whether they are magic symbols to foster good hunting, entoptic (behind the eye) views from a shaman’s vision quest, or an ancient version of e-mail, they are certainly impressive.

From Bishop travel north on Highway 6 to the first group known as the Chalfant Petroglyphs. From there you will follow the Red Rock Canyon Road into the Volcanic Tableland Plateau. The Red Rock Canyon group necessitates some hiking and boulder scrambling to see them all. The reward is a jumble of men, deer, sheep, snakes, hand prints, etc. Next head south on the Fish Creek Slough Road to the Chidago Canyon site. These are now fenced, which certainly detracts from the experience. However, they are so densely packed, particularly the “Newspaper Rock” site, that it is worth the stop. Finally, there is the Fish Slough group. These are not abundant at all. However, this area shows evidence that it was a major campsite. There are mortero stones where pinyon nuts and seeds were ground, pottery fragments, mussel shells, stone circles, and literally a carpet of obsidian chips. These chips cover not only the area around the rocks, but can be found on the other side of the Fish Creek Slough Road as well.

 

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