RonnieAdventure #0083 - Christmas Tree Pass and Grapevine Springs, Clark County, Nevada

It was late in the afternoon when arrived at the turnoff for Christmas Tree Pass, and I typically do not start a trip across the desert in the evening; but since I knew that this was a well-maintained dirt trail we decided to take a side trip to Grapevine Springs and then continue on to US Highway 95 (about 15 miles away).

Christmas Tree Pass is a beautiful scenic drive across the rugged Newberry Mountains that received its name because the local residents historically decorated Juniper Trees along the trail at Christmas time. However, the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) frowns upon this practice and has tried to stop the tradition; but some residents ignore the warnings and still decorate trees and other desert plants at Christmas time. Since it was only a few weeks after Christmas, we were certain that some of the decorations would still be in place.

It is only about three miles from the highway to the Grapevine Canyon junction and then an additional 1/4 mile to the trailhead for Grapevine Springs. This site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 because there are more than 250 petroglyph panels that cover rocks around the springs. It is believed that the petroglyphs were carved between AD 1100 and 1900, but no one knows for certain when they were made, what they mean, or who did the artwork. 

After leaving Grapevine Springs the mountains consist of broken surface rock that takes various shapes (some people even see animal outlines in the broken stone) and then the road climbs fairly steeply up to the Juniper Trees that are decorated at Christmas. Beyond the Juniper Trees the road has a steady downgrade for about six miles before reaching Highway 95.

 

At this time of year, the sun drops behind the mountains to the west fairly early, and it was dark by the time we reached the highway; however, we did get to see a beautiful desert sunset!