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“Baboquivari Peak Sacred Cave and Petroglyphs”
January 6, 2018 @ 7:00 am - 5:30 pm
Marc Severson photograph of some of the petroglyphs at Picture Rock.
On Saturday, January 6, 2018, Old Pueblo Archaeology Center executive director Allen Dart will lead a car-caravan educational tour of Baboquivari Peak Sacred Cave and Petroglyphs. Tour group will depart at 7:00 am from Pima Community College, 401 N. Bonita Ave., Tucson (or meet tour in Baboquivari Campground east of Topawa on the reservation at 8:30 am) to sites in and near Topawa on Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation, Arizona. The tour ends around 4:00 pm at Picture Rock on the reservation; estimated return time to Tucson 5:30 p.m. Fee $45 ($36 for Old Pueblo Archaeology Center and Pueblo Grande Museum Auxiliary members; no charge for members or employees of the Tohono O’odham Nation).
This educational adventure into Native American culture travels to the Tohono O’odham (Papago) Indian Reservation to visit the historic Baboquivari Camp, a Tohono O’odham traditional sacred cave, and the Picture Rock petroglyphs archaeological site. We will car-caravan from Tucson to Topawa, Arizona, then drive 12 miles east toward Baboquivari Peak (the legendary home of the Tohono O’odham Creator deity I’itoi) to Baboquivari Camp, a historic Civilian Conservation Corps headquarters camp site in the oak woodland just below Baboquivari Peak. From there, trip participants who are able can go on a two-mile-roundtrip, 1,100-foot-elevation-difference hike (classified as very difficult) up a trail leading halfway up the peak to visit a cave site traditionally believed to be one of the homes of the deity I’itoi. After returning from the hike we will visit Picture Rock, a small butte that contains petroglyphs and pictographs, bedrock mortars, and ancient artifacts. Modern Tohono O’odham offerings may be present in some of the visited locations. Artifact collecting is not permitted, and photos are not allowed in the cave but are OK outside of it. Campers must bring their own food and water, as there are no convenience stores or fast food nearby.
Reservations and prepayment required by Wednesday January 3: 520-798-1201 or info@oldpueblo.org.
20180106(v1)BaboquivariPeakSacredCave&PictureRockTourFlyer (link to flyer)