Explore Piedras Grandes Cultural Preserve, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California

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Piedras Grandes is located in the far southern portion of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (ABDSP). The main features of Piedras Grandes are the massive boulder hills that encircle a gently eastward-sloping alluvial valley; Piedras Grandes contains the highest concentration of archaeological sites, rock shelters and rock art in southern ABDSP. The proposed Piedras Grandes Cultural Preserve Zone also contains the famous “Horse and Rider Pictograph,” located within a rock shelter on the main trail through Piedras Grandes and, according to local folklore, is a depiction of the first Europeans to travel through the area. Parks has recently provided funds to restore this pictograph panel and to assess the condition of other pictographs in the proposed cultural preserve zone. The remains of ancient living are everywhere: many large boulders with grinding surfaces and mortar holes; caves with pictographs within them; deep archaeological deposits, water basins where rain water collected; and archaeological sites in sand dunes. For the Native Peoples of the region and others passing through, water was and is readily available at the nearby Dos Cabezas Spring to the south. A recent assessment of the cultural resources of the Piedras Grandes found that additional heavy impacts could be eliminated if motor-vehicle traffic were eliminated from a jeep trail, called Piedras Grandes Road, running through the heart of the cultural preserve zone. In advance of the reclassification of Piedras Grandes, a Superintendent’s Closure Order was placed for the jeep trail, converting it to a foot, bike, and equestrian trail. The results of the closure, in terms of natural restoration of the area, have been effective. Piedras Grandes is important to the Kumeyaay Peoples living on reservations in the area. Within the proposed cultural preserve zone is at least one area of dense concentration of human cremations. The rock art and other cultural features are also significant to local Native Peoples who visit this area for educational and ceremonial purposes. The name of the proposed cultural preserve is the common Spanish-language name which describes the area and is used on maps. Kumeyaay Elders have visited the area on several occasions and have requested a higher level of management.

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