Winnemucca Lake is a dry lake bed in northwest Nevada that features the oldest known petroglyphs in North America. Located astride the border between Washoe and Pershing counties, it was a shallow lake until the 1930s, but was dried when a dam and a road were built that combined to restrict and block water flow. It was formerly designated as a National Wildlife Refuge, but its status as a refuge was removed due to the lack of water.
Winnemucca Lake bed, blue lake to the left is Pyramid Lake
Petroglyph site 26 Wa 3329, with some of the oldest known petroglyphs in the Americas
Detail of Petroglyphs – the carvings can be dated because they were covered by tufa layers, after the water level rose above them
Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Reservation
The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Reservation is a United States reservation in northwestern Nevada, approximately 35 miles (56 km) northeast of Reno, in Washoe, Storey, and Lyon counties.
Pyramid Lake
Pyramid Lake Museum