"(#226) What a great location! Too bad there isn't a single speck of evidence of there ever being an historic marker here. This sucks ... because it cost me three bucks just to park here. I sense a hole in my pockets by the time this quest is over. TIme to investigate this one." -- June 2007

Cave Rock Boat Launch, 6.7 miles north of Stateline

Original Date Visited: 8/31/07
Revisited: 11/30/22
Signed: No

Notes: You'd think with such a huge comeback, NDOT would've placed some signage for Mr. 226? No such luck. Here is yet another marker that would benefit from at least one sign from the highway. Without question this is one of the more difficult markers to locate in the entire state. Once again, the SHPO chose the Cave Rock Boat Launch, a private-use area for boaters only ... yet without any indication of it's presence? Here's what you need to do.

- From US 50 look for a brown sign that reads "Boat Launch." This will be approximately 6.7 miles north from the town of Stateline, or roughly 8 miles south of Glenbrook. This sign is extremely hidden on the northbound lanes of US 50 just past the last row of private homes south of the tunnel. The sign is a bit easier to spot on the southbound lanes, but both are equally difficult due to the insane traffic that barrels down this highway. Look for a narrow, one-lane road leading down onto the shoreline of Lake Tahoe. Check out the Street View below and you'll see the tight angles here.

- Once you've got that out of the way, now comes part two. Most importantly, you will need to pay a fee to access this particular marker. Yup, it's one of those and there is absolutely no compromise here. Upon a quick revisit in late November of 2022 for this long-awaited return, I had been parked for only ten seconds to gather my camera before two park officials chased me down to see "my ticket." I did not have one, because the curtain of the entrance kiosk was shut. I had no idea somebody was in there. The "Closed" sign on the window gave it away. Both officials almost cornered me requiring me to fork over the entrance fee. I was happy to do so, but I asked them rather pleasantly, why it was such a big deal. Keep in mind that I had visited on a Thursday morning, in winter, at 5:57am. This tiny exclave of Lake-Tahoe Nevada State Park has been manned for decades, yes, but only recently they've been "needing to crack down on non-tickets," as quoted by one of the men. He went into a speal about not being paid enough for the job ... rather comical, considering that he works for Nevada State Parks. This was a pretty useless tangent, but I listened on anyway as a sounding board.

After hearing him out for over five minutes, one of the men grew bored and wandered off, and the other let me pass without needing to pay the fee, with a strict condition that I was out of there in five minutes. He was not joking. The only reason I got out of the fee was because I caught the guy on a bad day and I listened to his story. Don't expect to be so lucky.

In the guy's tangent, "the higher ups" have apparently spiked the entrance fee to this particular park. This is shameful and completely dollar driven.

Aside from its up-close view of Cave Rock (maybe the best view on the Lake), this is actually disgusting considering there's nothing here besides the boat launch. In years past, this used to be a free 15-minute spot where visitors could park to get a quick snap of Cave Rock and be on their merry way. Apparently, Nevada State Parks has taken advantage of this with a strict $25 fee required for locals, pedestrians and automobiles! Yes, you read that right. 25 bucks. Basically, if you're a warm body and you want to get past the entrance kiosk, you're out 25 bucks whether you park for a minute or an hour.

As such, this one of those markers where I can't recommend any loopholes or ways out of the fee. They mean business here. Even during the winter months, the fee is collected for pedestrians, vehicles, and even bicycles, and there is no way around it. You'll be instructed to do U-turn out of the park or walk back up the road. The entrance kiosk is open at the crack of the dawn and closes right at dusk.

Marker History
The 20-Year Rise and Fall of Marker 226

Hold on tight, boys and girls. When in comes to this marker, nothing is ever easy. This is going to be a long one.

The story of #226 is a fascinating one. in fact at one point this particular marker seemed so far gone that us hunters believed that it would never be shown the light of day again. According to the website of the SHPO, this marker was removed because "the interpretive text is undergoing revisions." The problem is, this was twenty one years ago. And it was definitely for this best. Personally, I think the text was flawed, offensive, and gravely misinterpreted a valuable piece of information in accordance to the Washo Tribe. To settle any historical inaccuracies and/or disputes, the marker was pretty much removed in a haste by a few entities, namely per request of the Washo.

These are the updates and my findings regarding CAVE ROCK over a span of over twenty years, beginning in 2008.

November 2010

I was contacted by Carson City local Carol Hohn, who asked me specifically about Marker 179, The First Air Flight of Nevada. It turns out that the Hohn family had been pushing to replace this MIA ever since its disappearance around 2005 with many failed attempts. To my surprise, on October 26, 2010, the Nevada Appeal ran an article about this marker and its relation to the Hohn Family. The Appeal had interviewed Carol Hohn, the daughter of the woman who had pushed to have Marker 179 realized in the late 1990s! Marker 179 stands as a testament not only to Nevada's first air flight, but also to the hard work her mother put forth to get the marker installed in the first place.

Carol also bluntly recalled that Marker 179 used to stand alongside N. Carson Street, but fell victim to the bulldozer when plans commenced the building of a K-Mart near the present Glen Eagles Restaurant. After the plans for the store were scrapped, the marker was never replaced, and instead, quote Carol, "lied on its back for weeks and weeks in the empty field." If this was the case, why didn't anybody pick it up, or at least report it to the authorities?

What does have to do with our Marker 226 here?

December 2010

Well, just after the Hohn article ran, the Nevada Appeal ran yet another article titled, "Three MIAs were found in Carson City." This article, posted December 29, 2010, revealed the whereabouts of three MIAs that had been missing for the past decade (1990-2010): precisely, Markers 179, 181, and 226.

Needless to say, the debut of this article has sparked some commotion around Carson City!

Like myself, many area locals are ecstatic that these MIAs had been found after a horrible hiatus of wasted time and frustration! You can imagine my surprise when I received a batch of photos by avid marker hunter, and oh-so dependable Dave Morris. Before the markers were carted away to a "safe location" on December 28, 2010, he obtained these rare images for us to see.

Dave: I, and every other marker hunter out there, thank you for the shots below!

This is probably the only shot we'll ever see of Marker 179.

Likewise for long lost Marker 181.

These contractors (likely hired by NDOT) were ordered to cart away our three MIAs to an undisclosed location for repairs. The good news is that both the plaques and marker bodies were in excellent condition, saving the SHPO an estimated $1,100 each in replacement costs! However, ever since this article, our three mystery markers were nowhere to be found -- back to the proverbial drawing board.

Marker 226 Returns

Ten years after finding this article, I was bombarded by another crate of information ... this one specifically in reference to Marker 226, Cave Rock.

Wow! Finally, an explanation for a missing marker!

in turns out that after these markers were carted away and the publishing of the article by the Nevada Appeal, word had spread about the possibility of Marker 226 still being very much alive. This sparked interest in the Washo Tribe of California and Nevada, but not for the right reasons. For more than two decades, the SHPO had ambiguously stated on their website that the text "misinterpreted a piece of information in accordance to the Washo Tribe." That's the understatement of the century. As you'll see the marker's text was poorly written to the point where it so contextually offensive to the Washo people that the only reference to the Washo is the first sentence. On top of this, this first sentence alone paints the Washo in a condescending, almost demeaning fashion. I hate it so much, but here it is.

Exact Description
(Old Text):
Romanticized in Indian lore as a sacred place, Cave Rock is the subject of many legends. Named for a cave, a remnant of which can be seen some 200 feet above the waterline, this formation was a landmark on the Lake Bigler Toll Road in the early days. Quarried granite blocks which supported the toll road can still be seen on the west face of Cave Rock. The rock was first tunneled for the construction of a highway in 1931 and the second tunnel was put through in 1958.

"Romanticized in Indian lore as a sacred place, Cave Rock is a subject of many legends."

As you can see, the entire text from then on is referring to the Lake Bigler Toll Road and the construction of the two tunnels. This first sentence:

Maybe stop calling them "Indians?!"

Maybe don't paint "Indians" in a generic fashion.

Maybe emphasize what specifically is the legend of Cave Rock?

... In other words, emphasize what makes Cave Rock so special to the Washo people.

Yes, boys and girls. This first sentence is why the marker was removed, and there's no way anybody can blame the Washo. The powers-that-be who wrote this description had absolutely no tact or qualifications to write such assumptions on a plaque that would be seen by millions of people. The Washo Tribe, who were called "Indians," weren't even mentioned and were lessened to a generic description and greatly overlooked by a toll road. The legends and lifestyle of the Washo people were essentially disqualified, completely overshadowed by the building of the toll road. This has major problems because road builders essentially tunneled through the sacred site to build this road. As such, around 2003, Washo elders petitioned the state and county to have this marker removed in 2005, and it took nearly three years for the SHPO to hire said subcontractors to do the job. Until funding was available to completely redo the marker, Marker 226 fell to the wayside.

In my opinion, it was better to have it removed because it lacked any tactful and honest content whatsoever - negated to nothing more than phony word salad.

Today

Marker 226, now named De Ek Wadapush which is the Washo's name for Cave Rock, was given a second chance at life. The marker was unveiled in 2015 as a part of the massive marker reprogramming for Nevada's 150th Sesquicentennial celebration. And trust me, avid marker hunters were shocked that it was finally back. The new version of Marker 226 is exactly what we were looking for. Why? The Washo Tribe of California and Nevada were presented with the opportunity to write some of the context for the plaque and it wasn't given the green light until it had the tribe's endorsement. The text you'll read below is a result of the Washo Tribe's insight and valuable knowledge of this sacred place ... an effort that should've been done in the first place.

As for the location, the Cave Rock Boat Launch was the logical choice for the marker's return (as read in my qualms above). The good news is that Marker 226 has been given permanent protection behind the wrought-iron fence surrounding the tiny park, thus, insuring that it will never fall victim to vandalism or accidental mishaps. As such, all maintenance falls to Nevada State Parks. In a crazy twist to end this story, and therefore like a resounding mic drop, the complete renovation of Marker 226 is a collaborative effort of four separate entities: the State Historical Preservation Office (SHPO), Nevada Department of Transportation, Nevada State Parks, and the Washoe Tribe of California and Nevada.

Welcome back, old friend!

Street View

Here's what you'll see!

Exact Description (New):
A sacred place to the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California, Cave Rock is the subject of many legends. Named for a cave, a remnant of which can be seen some 200 feet above the waterline. This formation was a landmark on the Lake Bigler Toll Road in the early days. Quarried granite blocks, which support the toll road, can still be seen on the west face of cave rock. The rock was first tunneled for the construction of a highway in 1931 and the second tunnel was put through in 1957. The Washoe name for Cave Rock is De-ek Wadapush which is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a Traditional Cultural Property. It is important now as it has been for thousands of years for the Washoe.

" Medicine men meditated and prayed here" and many distinct features help make up our culture, gifted basket makers, the wisdom of long-preserved legends, and our traditional way of life.

Cave Rock was one of our prominent sacred sites reflecting our traditional values of respect for the land and "da ow" (Lake Tahoe) the life-sustaining water, the center of the Washoe world (Washoe elder)

Sundown at Cave Rock.
Check out my roadtrip below for exotic views and the hike to the top of Cave Rock!

COVERED IN MY US 50 ROAD TRIP

Marker Superlative
- 226 - is the first historical marker on eastbound US 50.

Next Marker

LAKE MANSION

Related Links & Markers:
- 181 - The Washo Indians Dance for all People (Cave Rock & the Washo Tribe) Knowing Cave Rock (My News 4) Lincoln Highway in Nevada: Travel Nevada Website Cave Rock State Park (Nevada State Parks)
Have you been to this marker? Tell us all about it here!

De Ek Wadapush(Cave Rock)