Mouse's Tank is possibly the best hike to be done in Valley of Fire State Park. It not only allows you to explore a mysterious canyon associated with prehistoric rock writings and a regional legend based in historical fact, but it is a particularly versatile trek.
You can make it a quick half-mile hike to the natural water tank itself, or turn it into a half-day adventure exploring the rock formations, peaks, and side canyons, and trying to read the story in the hundreds of petroglyphs lining the canyon walls.
Valley of Fire State Park was Nevada's first state park, dedicated in 1935. The park's signature red sandstone was formed millions of years ago from complex uplifting, faulting and erosion that left us an amazing landscape that now serves not only as a natural playground for adults and children alike, but an outdoor museum filled with prehistoric art.
Nowhere do the two purposes coincide more happily than at Mouse's Tank. Just a few steps from the trail head, you will already be in a canyon, and in minutes you'll start to see the first petroglyphs. The most striking panels seem to be on the left. Occupation of the area is thought to have taken place from 300 B.C. to 1150 A.D., starting with the Basketmaker culture, followed by Ancestral Puebloan. The latter is the same culture once called the Anasazi by archaeologists, but that name is now considered derogatory.
In the Southwest, petroglyphs are found on many different types of surfaces, but the most common place is on desert varnish. This thin black coating, made up of fine-grained clay minerals, made an ideal place for prehistoric people to create rock art. They pecked away at the surface, which exposed the lighter rock underneath. Here there are images of wildlife, human shapes and many mysterious symbols, whose meaning we will probably never know.
As you travel along you'll also find thousands of holes, windows and pockets in the sandstone formed by natural erosion. They are in all shapes and sizes, many so small you might not even notice them, while others could easily accommodate many adults. The park allows you to explore and climb around the formations; just don't touch or climb anywhere near the petroglyphs. Crawl into one of the holes rounded out by wind erosion, and find the place where the natural stone hollow just exactly fits your back. On a cool afternoon, with the sun-heated stone radiating warmth into your body from every direction, you can feel comfortable as a kitten in a hatbox.
If you have children along, this canyon will easily become an educational experience. A stop at the visitor center, which is on your way to the trailhead, offers kid-friendly exhibits and interactive displays on the geology, wildlife, prehistory and history of the area.
Once you reach the trail, encourage your children to travel back in time, imagining where the Indians might have slept, hunted and prepared their food. Did they enjoy the small holes and canyons as a place to play? Which small peak might they have sat on to enjoy a spectacular sunrise, sunset or full moon, or to spy enemies or game to hunt?
After walking about a quarter mile you'll see a sign pointing left 20 yards to the tank. You'll have to lean over between two rock walls and twist your body in a peculiar fashion to get a good look, and I wouldn't let a child try it without a firm adult hand holding her belt to prevent a tumble into the tank.
Such natural tanks or tinajas were critically important water sources to human travelers even into the 20th Century, and remain so to desert wildlife. Mouse's Tank is not the largest in the park but because of its deep bowl shape and shaded location, it holds water the longest.
Two weeks ago the sand at the bottom of Mouse's Tank was damp, yet bare of any visible water, but that might have changed by now because even light showers can add inches to depth of the water-worn tinaja. Unlike some desert water basins that are easily accessible to wildlife, this one is hard for some to take advantage of. It is about eight feet deep, has no easy access except just dropping into it, and could be difficult to get out of.
Mouse's Tank gets its name from a Paiute who lived in the region in the 1890s. There are several versions of Mouse's story, but it's generally agreed that he ran afoul of the white man's law and became a much-feared fugitive. The official park story says that Mouse was able to evade posses for an extended period because he knew about this natural water supply, and could therefore survive in what was a very dangerous desert when walking and riding horseback remained the only means of travel. By most accounts Mouse never surrendered, and was killed by a posse in 1897.
The most recent version of the story is "Mouse's Tank: The Legend Retold," published recently by Stephens Press. Veteran journalist Mike Donahue, who lives in Overton, only about 20 miles from Mouse's Tank, fictionalized the work. This allowed him to recreate the character motivation and drama that surely attended the saga of Mouse, but failed to make it into the historical record. Much of the action of Donahue's account occurs in the terrain covered by this very hike. The book is available in area bookstores, and sold online from www.stephenspress.com.
Look carefully in the sand along the sides of the trail and you might see evidence of those who still make this area home. You might see small tracks made by kit foxes, chuckwallas and zebra-tailed lizards, and the distinctive continuous trails made by snakes. Before you place your feet or hands in any holes, take a quick look inside; the park boasts thirteen species of lizards, and fifteen species of snakes, a few of them poisonous. All of them find these holes in the rock just as appealing as we do.
Most of the wildlife, of course, is completely harmless. On the canyon floor you may see white-tailed antelope ground squirrels, black-tailed jackrabbits and even the less-usual cottontails darting to safety. Keep an eye to the sky for red-tailed and rough-legged hawks and even an occasional golden eagle. Few sights in Southern Nevada can compare to the sudden appearance of a soaring raptor, outlined on the bluest skies the West affords, framed by the blood-red rock of the Valley of Fire.
Deborah Wall is the author of "Great Hikes, A Cerca Country Guide," published by Stephens Press. She can be reached at Deborah@hikingthewest.com.
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