The history of Fossil Falls is quite interesting. During the last ice age, glaciers formed in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The water from these melted glaciers created Owens Lake and the Owens River. The river slowly made its way to Indian Wells Valley after being diverted several times due to volcanic activity. As the river was forced directly into the path of the basalt flow, Fossil Falls were formed. Because of this, the lava rocks were polished and reshaped into various unique shapes and forms. About 20,000 to 10,000 years go, the youngest glacial runoff, call the Tioga, from the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range created the erosion found at Fossil Falls.
Besides the small gas vesicles in the basalt, there are large circular penetrations in the basalt as well. These circular features are called potholes. It is believed that these potholes created when Red Hill cast out granitic detritus, which fell into Fossil Falls. As water accelerates as it moves past the rocks, the still water ahead forced the moving water to slow down and rotate. This action forced the granitic rocks from Red Hill to spiral downward in multiple vortices, drilling them into the basalt. This, along with sediments that got trapped, continue to circularly erode the holes.
As you explore the area, you can find flakes of obsidian and petroglyphs. As part of the history of Fossil Falls, the Native Americans used to camp near Fossil Falls. These ancient “Paleo” people chip obsidian from the Coso mountains to make high quality, razor-sharp tools. The Fossil Falls archeological District is on the National Register of Historic Places. Fossil Falls is protected as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern by the Bureau of Land Management. Native American artifacts may not be removed from the area.
To visit Fossil Falls, check out our blog for direction.
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