Painted Rock is a smooth horseshoe-shaped marine sandstone rock formation with pictograph rock art about 250 feet across and 45 feet tall near Soda Lake within the Carrizo Plain National Monument on the southwest side of the northern Carrizo Plain, west of Bakersfield and about 70 miles (110 km) east of San Luis Obispo and 45 miles (72 km) west of Taft.
The interior of the rock alcove is adorned with many pictographs created by the Chumash, Salinan and Yokuts peoples over many thousands of years. In recent times there have been many marks left by early White settlers such as one reading "Geo. Lewis 1908", founder of Atascadero, California. Unfortunately there has also been major defacing of this site; in the 1920s the large pictogram was irreparably damaged by a shotgun blast.
Painted Rock can be reached by foot path from the Goodwin Center off Soda Lake Road, which runs northwest-southeast between State Route 166 and State Route 58. Like most roads within Carrizo Plain, it is unpaved and subject to sudden closure during and after rainy weather. Note that Painted Rock is a protected area and regularly closed to the public between March 1 and the end of May except for guided tours.
