In the Deert Logo

Secret Locations

In the Desert

What to look for
In the Desert!

   Events     Weather     Writer's Cafe     City Profiles     Life in the Desert      Local Happenings

Share/Bookmark

Content including photographs are Copyright ©  2014 - Present - Don & Linda Gilmore
 Contact us via E-mail

Hidden Locations, Graffiti

Gypsum Cave in Las Vegas
   We're all too familiar with "graffiti" and how it can destroy a nice site, cave, ghost town or petroglyphs! Not just "graffiti", but bullet holes (often found in pertroglyphs), adding junk/trash to a site or cabin, or burning the site down, taking artifacts from a site, or just vandalizing a site.
   The photo at the top of the page is a perfect example. The people shown in the photo are not the vandals. But this Gypsum Cave has been vandalized along with a lot of other sites. Photo courtesy of Nick Moody - Vegas FJ's
   We've been told that we shouldn't put GPX tracks to sites we list on our "daytrips" pages because of this. All the "daytrips" on our site are to areas that are pretty well known. We know of only a very few sites that we've visited where we've kept the location a "secret".

Here is your chance to have a say! 
Please let us know how you feel about this!

   Should all these places/sites be kept secret, and if so, why?  Tell us what you think by sending us an email.
First: If you keep the location a secret, then the vandals won't know how to get there.
Problem: The Internet, finding GPS locations, directions/maps in this digital age is now easy. We've found many locations like this!
Second: Make it well known so a lot of people visit the area. It's less likely to be vandalized if there are other people around.
Problem: This may help, but there are always times when no one is around. How many times have you said, "boy if only I could catch them doing it".
Third: State and Federal agencies (like the BLM) can close areas off, fence them, close mines and caves and close roads. This usually works the best.
Problem: Now a lot of these areas are no longer available to anyone, especially older people who can't hike and in some cases are no longer available to anyone (such as closed roads, mines, caves, and petroglyph sites).

Three possible solutions?

aaaaaaaaaaaaiii