Mary’s Cave is located in the beautiful and expansive Mojave National Preserve. The exact location is not well known, so if you go, please don’t publish the coordinates. It’s still in pristine condition, and unfortunately too many sites are ruined by graffiti, relic hunters, etc.
It’s easy to see why this area was used by early Native Americans, as it’s not only heavily sheltered, but located right above a spring with plenty of fresh water. It’s a beautiful area. The shelter itself is covered with many different sized cupules and grinding holes, both on the floor and on the ceiling. There are several old faded pictographs throughout this shelter, too. The first gallery includes unedited photos, but the second gallery on this page (scroll to towards the bottom) includes enhanced versions of the pictographs using DStretch (so you can see the pictographs better). It’s not definite who left these traces, but it’s most likely either the Chemehuevi or Mojave Indians, based on geography.
Please click on the images below (NOTE- there is a 2nd gallery with enhanced pictures, below this gallery):
Jon Harman, Ph D, developed a program called DStretch to help digitally enhance faded pictographs. The gallery below include enhanced pictures using DStretch:
Hi I’m very interested in rock art and seeing some of these places in California.
Is Mary’s cave open to the public and is it easy to access or do you need a four wheel drive?
Thank you for showing the pictures of amazing place and its rock art.
Hi Elle,
Thanks for checking out my site! I don’t give out specific coordinates to sites, but I can say that it’s open to the public.
Happy exploring!