Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area is a

National Conservation Area National Conservation Area is a designation for certain protected areas in the United States. They are nature conservation areas managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) under the National Landscape Conservation System. Restrictions vary b ...

(NCA) administered by the

United States Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...

(BLM). It includes the Sloan Petroglyph Site which was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on December 19, 1978. It is located south of

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, access is available from

Las Vegas Boulevard Las Vegas Boulevard is a major road in Clark County, Nevada, United States, best known for the Las Vegas Strip portion of the road and its casinos. Formerly carrying U.S. Route 91 (US 91), which had been the main highway between Los Angel ...

, near the

Del Webb Delbert Eugene "Del" Webb (May 17, 1899 – July 4, 1974) was an American real estate developer, and a co-owner of the New York Yankees baseball club. He is known for founding and developing the retirement community of Sun City, Arizona, and fo ...

Anthem development in

Henderson Henderson may refer to: People *Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname *Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada *He ...

. Sloan Canyon NCA protects .

Petroglyphs

Sloan Canyon contains a great many

petroglyphs A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

and has been called the

Sistine Chapel The Sistine Chapel (; la, Sacellum Sixtinum; it, Cappella Sistina ) is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the pope in Vatican City. Originally known as the ''Cappella Magna'' ('Great Chapel'), the chapel takes its name ...

of Native American

rock art In archaeology, rock art is human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type also ...

due to their size and significance.

Archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

s believe the more than 300

panels with 1,700 individual design elements were created by native cultures from the

Archaic Archaic is a period of time preceding a designated classical period, or something from an older period of time that is also not found or used currently: *List of archaeological periods **Archaic Sumerian language, spoken between 31st - 26th cent ...

to historic eras. The BLM currently maintains a policy of not publicizing the exact location of the petroglyphs due to recent problems with

vandalism Vandalism is the action involving deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private property. The term includes property damage, such as graffiti and defacement directed towards any property without permission of the owner. The term f ...

. Access to the NCA is further hampered by the rapid development of private land and to ongoing conflicts over

land use Land use involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as settlements and semi-natural habitats such as arable fields, pastures, and managed woods. Land use by humans has a long h ...

and

zoning Zoning is a method of urban planning in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into areas called zones, each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for a si ...

. Sloan Canyon NCA is (as of November 2006) closed to camping, shooting and offroad vehicle access, due to dumping and vandalism. Hiking, biking and horseback riding are encouraged on existing roads and trails. The BLM asks that you respect the rock art, and be a responsible visitor. The

North McCullough Wilderness Area The mountains in the McCullough Range lie mostly above the city of Henderson in the U.S. state of Nevada. The range has two distinct areas with the northern portion being primarily volcanic in origin, while the southern part of the range is prima ...

which covers the northern part of the

McCullough Range The mountains in the McCullough Range lie mostly above the city of Henderson in the U.S. state of Nevada. The range has two distinct areas with the northern portion being primarily volcanic in origin, while the southern part of the range is prima ...

is contained within the boundaries of the NCA.

Trailheads

*Dutchman Pass (Mission Hills) on the east boundary *Quo Vadis on the east boundary *Hidden Valley on the west southern boundary *Petroglyph Canyon on the western boundary (South of Inspirada) *Shadow Canyon on the western mid boundary (Inside Solara) *Anthem Hills on the western north boundary (South Anthem)

References

Sources and external links

Sloan Canyon NCA website
at

BLM BLM most commonly refers to: * Black Lives Matter, an international anti-racism movement and organization * Bureau of Land Management, a U.S. federal government agency BLM may also refer to: Organizations * BLM (law firm), United Kingdom and ...

{{authority control Petroglyphs in Nevada Native American history of Nevada

Canyons and gorges of Nevada This category contains canyons in the U.S. state of Nevada. Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the ...

Tourist attractions in the Las Vegas Valley Protected areas of the Mojave Desert National Conservation Areas of the United States Bureau of Land Management areas in Nevada Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Nevada Protected areas of Nevada National Register of Historic Places in Clark County, Nevada Protected areas of Clark County, Nevada Units of the National Landscape Conservation System Landforms of Clark County, Nevada

Petroglyphs

Trailheads

See also

References

Sources and external links