Visitor Center

8:00 a.m.
From our motel in the southwestern park of Albuquerque we drove to the Visitor Center for Petroglyph National Monument. It was 72 degrees when we arrived.

There we spoke to a young female Ranger who seemed very enthusiastic about what the Monument had to offer. She answered our questions about the layout of the Monument and I asked her about the La Cieneguilla Petroglyph Site, which we also wanted to see later in our trip. She and another Ranger found some information and helped us determine how to locate the site. We also bought a few books and picked up some free information and trail guides.

Rinconada Canyon

8:36 a.m.
Our first stop was the Rinconada Canyon Unit of Petroglyph National Monument. There is a two mile trail that passes along the base of a cliff where the rock art is found. The GPS Coordinates for the parking area (where there is a vault toilet, but no water) are: 35 07.602N; 106 43.504W; at an elevation of 5,078 feet.

10:22 a.m.
By the time we finished the Canyon Rinconada Canyon Trail the sun was out in full and the air was beginning to feel hot. The petroglyphs are scattered throughout the area on large volcanic boulders that have tumbled down slope from the lava flow above. Some of the work is quite interesting. This was our first encounter with what is known as the Rio Grande Style, recognized by the prevalence of faces worked into the edges of large rocks, so that one side of the face is on one side of the rock, while the other side is on the opposite side of the rock. It’s quite an amazing array of rock-art.

Boca Negra Canyon

10:39 a.m.
From Rinconada Canyon we drove north to the Boca Negra site. When we arrived it was 82 degrees out, with mostly clear skies. The map coordinates for the entrance to this area are: 35 09.652N; 106 43 226W; at an elevation of 5, 196 feet. This is a fee area for the City of Albuquerque, but our National Parks Pass covers us for this area. There is an entrance station, but on this morning it was not occupied.

Within this little canyon there are paved roads with parking areas near three short trails. We hiked each. The Mesa Point Trail climbs a steep cliff of volcanic boulders and allows access to the top of the mesa, providing good views of the surrounding community. There are, as expected, very interesting examples of petroglyphs along this trail.

We walked from there to the Macaw Trail, which is the shortest of the three, but it has some very interesting pieces. There is a parking area at this location, with drinking water and modern restrooms. The Cliff Base Trail also leaves from this parking area. It traverses the base of the cliffs and also has many interesting examples. Part of the trail is closed due to a rock slide.

There is also a picnic area (with covered tables) between the Macaw Trail and the Mesa Point Trail.

11:41 a.m.
From there we drove to the Upper Canyon Area, which is part of the Boca Negra Canyon Unit, where there is also a short trail. But because we still had one more major area to visit, and because it was lunch time, we decided to skip this trail for this visit. There are a couple of covered picnic tables near this site, so that’s where we had our lunch, though it was getting pretty windy.

Piedras Marcadas Canyon

12:48 p.m.
After lunch we drove north to the Piedras Marcadas Canyon site. When we got there it was 91 degrees. The map coordinates for the parking area for this site are: 35 11.312N; 106 41.231W; at an elevation of 5,220 feet.

The layout of this area is very similar to Rinconada Canyon in that most of the rock-art seems to be on volcanic boulders scattered near the base of a cliff. The trail through this area is a bit difficult to follow at times, since there are all sorts of side trails and paths. There are numbered posts indicating the main areas where the rock-art is prevalent. Once we made it all the way out to the end, we took the main trail back to the parking area, arriving there at just after 2:00 p.m. It was getting pretty hot out there, and there were storm clouds on the horizon, so we decided to skip a trip around to the west side of the Monument where there are three volcanoes. We’ve seen lots of volcanoes before, in other places, so we didn’t feel too bad about skipping these. Besides, we had some chores to take care of.

As we were leaving the parking area we noticed the Sonic restaurant across the street, so stopped in there for a cooling limeade, then we headed back to our motel.