Overview

Double Negative is a land art piece on the edge of Mormon Mesa just east of Overton and overlooking the Virgin River a bit north of Lake Mead (outside the National Recreation Area). The famous artist Michael Heizer created the piece in 1969, which in essence, is a sculpture consisting only of a defined empty space.

The piece was created by digging two 30-foot wide, 50-foot deep trenches on opposite sides of a natural canyon. The north and south ends of the trenches are 1500-feet apart, such that the piece includes the two trenches and the natural canyon between them. The "negative" refers to the 1500-foot-long man-made and natural negative space. Visitors could think of this as an invisible beam of empty space that is 1500-feet long.

Heizer is concerned that documentation of his work misrepresents the sculpture because it can only be known by visiting the site in person, so the photos here are posted only to encourage visitation. The work is owned by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

Michael Heizer is almost finished creating another land art project in Lincoln County, Nevada. This new piece, called City, is about 1-1/4 miles long and 1/4 miles wide. Hopefully is will be opened to the public and included in a protected area called Basin and Range.

Watch Out

Other than the standard warnings about hiking in the desert, ... areas near the road are fairly safe, but the edge of the mesa and the edges of Double Negative are not, as things crumble with time. Access to this area requires a high-clearance vehicle or carefully driven sedan.

While out and about, please respect the land and the other people out there, and try to Leave No Trace of your passage. If visitors wander from the road, nobody will find you, so be sure to bring the 10 Essentials.

Getting to Double Negative

Double Negative is located about 1.5 hours northeast of Las Vegas. The easiest way to get there from town is to drive north on Interstate-15 to the Logandale exit (Exit 93). Turn right onto Highway 169 and drive south through the towns of Logandale and Overton where gas, food, lodging, and other supplies are available.

In Overton, drive northwest out Mormon Mesa Road 5 miles to Double Negative Road, on the left. Turn left onto Double Negative Road, a 2-track road, and drive north 1.4 miles to Double Negative South and another 0.3 miles to Double Negative North.