Hickison Petroglyph Recreation Area

The Hickison Petroglyph Recreation Area provides public access to petroglyphs created by prehistoric people living near Hickison Summit at the north end of the Toquima Range and the south end of the Simpson Park Mountains in the U.S. state of Nevada. The recreation area, maintained by the Bureau of Land Management, is 24 miles (39 km) east of Austin along U.S. Route 50.[2] The site, at 6,500 feet (2,000 m) above sea level,[3] is on the west edge of the Monitor Valley in the Great Basin.[4]

Hickison Petroglyph Recreation Area
Cliff face along the self-guided trail
TypePublic, Federal
LocationLander County, Nevada, United States
Nearest cityAustin
Coordinates39°26′37″N 116°44′47″W[1]
Elevation6,500 feet (2,000 m)
Operated byBureau of Land Management
OpenYear-round

The park features a self-guided tour along a 0.5-mile (0.8 km) trail with multiple petroglyph panels, high-desert flora, and views of the Toquima and Toiyabe mountain ranges and the Big Smoky Valley.[5] Amenities include 16 campsites, a day-use area, toilets, grills, picnic tables, and trash cans but no water.[2]

Name

Hickison Summit is named for ranch owner John Hickerson. (Hickerson is an alternate spelling for the summit.) The road to the Hickerson ranch passes over the summit.[6]

History

In the general vicinity of Hickison Summit are multiple prehistoric hunting and living sites dating to 10,000 B.C. as well as more recent sites such as mining camps and ranches. Trails used by mid-19th-century explorers John C. Frémont and James H. Simpson pass through the area as do the routes of the Pony Express and the Overland Stage. At the time of the earliest prehistoric sites, the Great Basin contained large lakes, including Lake Toiyabe and Lake Tonopah in the Big Smoky Valley west of the summit. As the climate became drier, the lakes evaporated, and the former lake-dependent cultures were replaced by hunter-gatherers. When the first European-Americans arrived in about 1850, Western Shoshone people lived in the region.[5]

References
  1. "Hickison Summit". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. December 12, 1980. Retrieved May 12, 2013.
  2. "Camping on Public Lands". Bureau of Land Management. March 22, 2013. Retrieved April 21, 2013.
  3. "Hickison Petroglyph Recreation Area, Nevada". Public Lands Information Center. Retrieved April 21, 2013.
  4. Nevada Road & Recreation Atlas (2nd ed.). Medford, Oregon: Benchmark Maps. 2007. p. 66. ISBN 978-0-929591-95-7.
  5. "Hickison Petroglyph Recreation Area" (brochure distributed at the site), Battle Mountain Field Office, Bureau of Land Management.
  6. Woody, Alanah (February 18, 2009). "Hickison Summit". Online Nevada Encyclopedia. Nevada Humanities. Retrieved May 13, 2013.
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