Friday 1: Bombing Range/Whitaker Holes

Description: Columbia Plateau/Great Basin contact zone. Combination of pictographs and petroglyphs associated with “tanks/tinajas” along the length of Dry River Gorge (an extinct Pleistocene River course). Two sites will be visited: Bombing Range (35DS2834) and Whitaker Holes (35DS1437). A DStretch camera will be a real benefit here, since some of the images are quite faint.

Access: Access is MODERATELY DIFFICULT. Trailheads are accessible to all vehicles. Site visits require hiking in soft soils over relatively flat but uneven ground. There will be a 3 mile round trip hike at Bombing Range; and a one-quarter (0.25) mile round trip hike at Whitaker Holes. Minor rocky areas require scrambling to two locations at the Bombing Range site, but elevation gain is less than four feet in each instance. Early June weather in the High Desert can be variable. Be prepared for temperatures ranging from warm to freezing; wear a hat and carry sunscreen and water. The Bombing Range site is within the BLM Oregon Badlands Wilderness, the Whitaker Holes site is not. All participants are required to follow “Leave No Trace” practices when visiting these two public land locations.