It’s the journey, not the destination, when it comes to Mouse’s Tank Trail in Nevada’s Valley of Fire State Park. Mouse’s Tank itself, where the trail ends, is disappointing. But among the canyon walls that frame this short hike are many examples of prehistoric petroglyphs, most well-preserved and untouched by visitor graffiti.

Prehistoric users of the Valley of Fire area included the Basket Maker people and later the Anasazi Pueblo farmers from the nearby fertile Moapa Valley. The span of occupation has been dated from 300 B.C. to 1150 A.D. Their visits in the valley involved hunting, food gathering and religious ceremonies, and those activities are reflected in the petroglyphs they left behind. There are renderings of animals that no longer exist in the area, like bighorn sheep.

Petroglyphs, which are carved into the rock rather than painted on like pictographs, are found throughout Valley of Fire State Park. The age of the carvings can be judged by their clarity. Older ones have been eroded by rainwater and blowing dust, and are lighter in appearance. More recent carvings are relatively clear. They are at different heights along the canyon walls.

Mouse’s Tank is a natural cistern used by a Paiute renegade named Little Mouse who was fleeing a posse in the 1890s. Water collects in the deep basin after rainfall, sometimes remaining for months. The Indian, suspected of committing a variety of crimes from petty theft to murder, used the water in the cistern to sustain himself and evade capture. He was eventually hunted down and shot to death. Without a trial, of course.

Valley of Fire is about fifty miles from Las Vegas. If you’re on your way to visit Zion National Park in Utah, it makes a nice stopping point.