A word to the wise. Picture Rock is a very sacred place that is still used by the Tohono O'odham people in the area. Trespassers are not looked upon kindly at this spot. Stick to the road and get to the climbing instead of being a tourist.

Tohono O'odham are very nice people. You will not be considerd a trespasser if you offer a kind word and use common sense! Even a question will help you make a friend, alot of them are more than willing to tell you about there heritage. These lands are the longest inhabited lands in our nation and to pass up something this signifigant would be a great loss. You only live once!

I do hear what you're saying Andrew. And I'm not suggesting anything negative about the temperament of many of the O'odham people or anyone else who lives on the rez. After spending decades with several families and friends in Sells and climbing in the area, I became very acquainted with many of the stories about this area in question. And I am all for the, "You only live once," mentality, but not at the cost of Picture Rock becoming a side stop for climbers. From the looks of the photo, it seems that all of the offerings are gone. Only a few years ago this area, including the wall itself, used to be covered with offerings left for the O'odham creator who, according to stories, lives on Baboquivari. Climbers should hear these stories, talk to people in the area, climb the peak, but let Picture Rock be used for its intended purpose. It truly isn't just a place where people painted the rock to communicate with passer-by or to document certain events or even to communicate with their creator in general terms. It's different. There are thousands of other places in the area to go and look at petroglyphs and pictographs.