| Description: Fed by the rains & snows of the last Ice Age, the Owens River once flowed from Owens lake down through this narrow valley between the Coso & Sierra Nevada Mountain ranges. Several times during the last 100,000 years, the discharge from the Owens river has been great enough to form a vast interconnected system of lakes in what are now the arid basins of the Mojave Desert. The rugged & primitive features of Fossil Falls are the produce of volcanic activity. As recent as 20,000 years ago, lava from the local volcanic eruptions poured into the Owens River channel. The erosional forces of the Owens River acted upon this volcanic rock, forming the polished & sculptured features that now can be seen at Fossil Falls.
A number of rocks & boulders possess smooth basins on their upper surface. These rocks are called metates & were used for plant processing: hard desert seeds were placed on the metate surface & ground with a handheld cobble called a miano. Over time, this grinding motion produced the characteristic smooth concave surface of the metate.
The surrounding desert also contained the raw materials for a simple hunter-gatherer technology. The black scar seen on the dome-shaped hill to the east is a mile-long seam of volcanic glass, obsidian. Obsidian was used almost exclusively in the manufacture of stone tools such as projectile points, knives, & scrapers. The large scatters of obsidian waste flakes seen in the Fossil Falls vicinity are the byproducts of stone tool manufacture.
Location: From Ridgecrest, go 45 miles north on US 395, & take the CInder Road exit east.
Season: year round
Reservations: no
Picnicking
Hiking/Backpacking
Drinking Water
Cultural-Historic Sites
Restrooms
Campgnd, Developed
RV Sites
Notes: Please supervise young children closely, as the trail leads to the top of a sheer cliff. |
Ridgecrest Field Office, Fossil Falls Campground Web Site
Driving Direction GPS Coordinates:
35.618809, -117.648107
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Campground: Ridgecrest Field Office, Fossil Falls in Ridgecrest California *