Fantastic star holes and where to find them
You can find star shaped drill holes in alluvial boulders found along rivers. In California, star holes are drilled from up high in the mountain rock, after thousands of years, the star holes become dislodged from cliffs and make their way downstream along rivers and are ejected out to the ocean. If a star hole is found in a rock along the California coast, it may disappear a decade later due to oceanic erosion and displacement.
This was the case for the Adler star drill hole photographed by John Vonderlin in 2008 and its disappearance in 2023.
Excited to find John’s star drill hole at Adler Creek, I contacted him in 2023 and he gave me easy directions from memory.
Adler Creek is located off the Big Sur coastline of highway 1 in central California.
Parking off the side of the highway and scaling down a small cliff to reach Adler Creek. Once at creek level, walk under the graffiti spayed highway tunnel and follow until it extends out to the Pacific Ocean. The red X marked on the image above is where the star hole was photographed.
(Below left) looking from the tunnel upstream is serine, looking downstream at graffiti is not so serine. Should you travel upstream, you may find the primary source where ancient star holes were originally drilled.
Boulders containing star holes travel downstream, sometimes stopped mid-center of a river, and in time will flow out to the ocean.
John’s, 5-point star drill hole was photographed in 2008 near the outside perimeter of the tunnel’s exit point. Below is the star hole of Adler Creek.
I spent a few hours looking for the star hole but could not. I concluded it has been relocated or buried by tidal action. When boulders are small along the coast, they can be covered or redistributed along the coastline, sometimes disappearing forever from human sight.
The below star hole in a large river boulder is not moving anytime soon so we can tag it with GPS. A note to star hole hunters, this star hole still needs to be measured and documented for verification.
(Above) Star hole located 145 miles South of the documented star hole in Morro Bay.
(Below) Star hole located 200 miles North of the documented star hole in Morro Bay.
The above star hole located in the Pescadero river was also found by John and is graded as SG-5. GPS coordinates will follow after a revisit.
Following the Pescadero river upstream will lead to the primary source of ancient rock drilling.
Below is a video of a fantastic star shaped drill hole in a riverside boulder, located in the USA.
Machined star shaped drill holes are not only fantastic and wild ancient relics found in rock, but they are also accessible to those researching ancient civilizations. Look along the rivers to find ancient, machined drill holes made in alluvial stone boulders. Now you know where to find them.
Happy Hunting 2026.