Put This in Your Pocket: Nevada’s Mount Irish Archaeological Site

Nevada’s Mount Irish Archaeological Site – who cares? No one is searching for travel during a Pandemic. There are bigger, more pressing concerns. I’m not sticking my head in the sand; as I’m writing this I know the situation we are in is life changing. But I also know that it doesn’t hurt to dream. Dreams elevate and keep us going through dark times. This is why – even though no one is searching for travel at time of writing – I am going to keep writing travel content. 

Jonas Salk was an American physician and medical researcher who developed one of the first successful polio vaccines. Salk once said, “I’ve had dreams and I’ve had nightmares. I overcame the nightmares because of my dreams.” 

I like that. 

I’m going to overcome my fears by dreaming of places to go and things to see and do. I hope you’ll come along for the virtual trip and put these dreams in your pocket, ready to pull out when travel once again becomes something people are searching for online. 

And I’m starting here, with Nevada’s Mount Irish Archaeological Site.

Disclosure: This post contains Affiliate links.

Making A New Discovery

We were travelling through Nevada on a detour to avoid the hustle and bustle of I-15 through Salt Lake City, Utah. Along the way, we discovered Cathedral Gorge State Park and the historic mining town of Pioche, Nevada. In the visitor centre, we picked up a free newspaper called Treasure Hill Chronicles because it had information about a walking tour.

The next day, Brad read the paper more closely and saw a little corner advertisement for Mount Irish Rock Art & Archaeological District. Mount Irish? We’d never heard of it, but the promise of rock art had us firing up Google. What a find!

Mount Irish Archaeological Site

Mount Irish Archaeological District is located on the eastern edge of the Mount Irish Range. The District spans across 640 acres. It includes prehistoric rock art and campsites. Its landscape is made up of tuff – or solidified volcanic ash – knolls and outcrops, water-worn rubble spreading out into alluvial fans and washes.

The rock art was created by Native American peoples who used the area from the nineteenth century back to 4,000 years ago. Mount Irish is one of the most important archaeological areas in eastern Nevada. How did we not know of its existence before now?

Discovering rock art – from petroglyph sites to pictographs in caves to desert geoglyphs – is one of our travel passions. While we might not have known it was there before, we wasted no time in heading over to check it out. 

Love archaeology? You might also enjoy reading about Portugal’s Côa Valley Archaeological Park!

Getting There

The Mount Irish Archaeological Site is located in the northwestern edge of the Pahranagat Valley, about 110 miles north of Las Vegas. We accessed it by heading south on U.S. Route 93 from Panaca, Nevada. It was about 59 miles (95 km) through Caliente to the junction of U.S. 93 and State Route 318 near Crystal Springs.

We followed S.R. 318 north for about 2.5 miles (4 km) to the unmarked road on the left (west side of the road) just past Nesbitt Lake and the Key Pittman Management Area. Opening the barbed wire gate, we drove through, closed the gate and bounced along the gravel road heading westward for less than 7 miles (11 km) to the BLM marker sign for the Mount Irish Archaeological site. 

From here, the road splits and splits again and becomes more rugged, especially after heavy rains. After crossing a large wash, continue straight at the next fork. It was signed for Mt. Irish Wilderness Area when we were there. Less than 2 miles (3 km) from the first BLM marker sign, you will see a second, identical sign and a small gravel pullout. This is Paiute Rock, the first of the incredible Mt. Irish rock art sites we were about to discover.

Get the Guides

A BLM register box held two precious keys – copies of the Lincoln County Nevada rock art brochure entitled: Get Primitive and the BLM/NRAF Rock Art pamphlet for the Mt. Irish Archaeological District. The first brochure includes details on Mt. Irish as well as other rock art sites in Lincoln County. The second pamphlet focuses specifically on the Mt. Irish site. 

We used both resources in conjunction. The Get Primitive brochure offered numbered information matching each of the rusted metal markers pounded into the ground below the panels at Paiute Rock and Shaman Hill & Knob. The Rock Art pamphlet offered additional information for a total of 11 distinct panel areas in the district.

Paiute Rock Petroglyphs

Guides in hand we set off, hunting for hidden metal markers that led us counter-clockwise around the pile of boulders that is Paiute Rock. Paiute Rock is one of the largest rock art sites in the area, with 80 rock art panels. There are supposed to be a total of nine metal markers highlighting the panels around Paiute Rock. A few of the markers were missing, some were found lying on the ground – all of which made for an interesting quest.

Directly behind marker #1 was a low rock covered with rock art. One image near the top of the panel looks like atlatl. This prehistoric dart thrower was used prior to the bow and arrow – more than 1,500 years ago. 

Our jaws dropped as the numbers of petroglyphs grew at every turn – from single bighorn sheep etched in rock pockets to human (anthropomorphic) and animal-like (zoomorphic) figures to curvilinear elements, ladders, rakes, dots and multiple circles. It was discovery and adventure at every turn.

Sacred Sites at Shaman Hill

After a quick snack and some water at the truck, we walked up the road another 0.3 miles (0.5 km) to the Shaman junction on the left. Up the hill where the road ends are two sites: Shaman Knob on the left and Shaman Hill on the right. Both have registration boxes. 

Shaman Hill is the largest rock art site in the Mt. Irish Archaeological District. There are an astonishing 129 panels. It is a bit tricky to follow as the trail starts heading off to the right with markers #1 through #4, but then continues to the left for #6 to #8. It doesn’t loop around and we never did find a marker #5. We did manage to find the “Pahranagat Man” or “P-Man” image at marker #3.

“P-Man” is an anthropomorphic figure unique to the Pahranagat Valley. It is believed to be spiritual or supernatural in nature. Many of these figures have “attendants” or “protectors” that are smaller images near their feet or heads. Did you pick up on the resemblance of this image to that of the marker signs?

Shaman Knob

Across the road is a second registration box and four more panels – the first of which are high on the rock face. We followed the arrows leading past the panel in the natural rock passageway, appreciated the Pahranagat figure at marker #3 and mused on the “spaceship” and “alien” figures at #4.

Climbing up on top of the knob gave us an overview of Shaman Knob, Shaman Hill and Paiute Rock as well as distant sites waiting for our return. Yes, I’m putting this travel dream in my pocket.

Next time, we will start earlier in the day, walk in past the signed “Mt. Irish” junction and explore the concentration of panels on that grouping of rocks. We’ll stop and send a shout across the Echo Rock group – and that shout will bounce back saying “dreams matter.”

Further Information

The Bureau of Land Management page for the Mt. Irish Archaeological Site includes a link to the Mt. Irish brochure produced by the Nevada Rock Art Foundation. For additional details about the Mount Irish site and Lincoln County, Nevada, check out the county website (listed above in Get the Guides) as well as Travel Nevada.

We stayed in Snow Canyon State Park, Utah and did this a day trip – an option if you don’t mind the drive.

Search for other Nevada adventures? Check out 11 Amazing Things to Do in Boulder City | Nevada or Valley of Fire: Prospect Trail and More Hikes.