Hospital Rock
Pictograph Site
(Patwisha Monache of Sequoia National Park)
The Hospital Rock pictograph site is located on Highway 198, the main road that leads into Sequoia National Park, just a few miles past the Footills Visitor Center. There is a large pictograph panel on an overhang above the shelter, and just a few feet away is a rock slab with several bedrock mortars. An isolated boulder to one side of this slab is dimples with several, somewhat to difficult to see cupules. Similar "dimpled rocks" are known from other sites as well, and some call them "prayer stones". Several interpretive panels in the parking area provide information on the Patwisha Monache who lived in the area and used the shelter cave. There is additional information at the Foothills Visitor Center.
Pictograph Images from Hospital Rock
The top row panels show the shelter cave and the pictograph panel. The middle row shows the nearby bedrock mortars,
and the bottom panels show the dimpled stone (prayer stone) covered with cupules.
