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Petroglyphs National Monument, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Petroglyph National Monument, New Mexico

4.0/5
based on 1 reviews

Details

Distance

2 miles

Elevation Gain

10 ft

Route Type

Out-and-Back

Description

Added by Phil Konstantin

More petroglyphs and pictographs (Rock Art) per square mile that just about anywhere in the USA.

Petroglyph National Park - Amazing Rock Art - Petroglyph National Monument has one of the biggest, and easiest to find group of petroglyphs in the United States. There are over 20,000 carvings in this monument. It is on the western side of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and is easy to reach. The vast majority of the petroglyphs (rock carvings) are from the Pueblo IV period. That runs from about 1300 to 1650 (AD or CE, as you prefer). A few are up to 1,000 years old. A tiny amount were done by Spanish settlers when this was still part of Spain or Mexico.  I visited the park on April 12, 2016. 

There are several hiking trails in the Park. Here is some basic info for each:

Boca Negra Canyon: 1 mile long, 1 hour time - 100 petroglyphs

Rinconada Canyon: 2.2 miles, 1.5 hours time - 300 petroglyphs

Piedras Marcadas Canyon: 1.5 miles, 1 hour plus - 400 petroglyphs

My personal video of the area is below.

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Features

Photography
Hiking
Bathrooms
Easy Parking
Family Friendly
Scenic
Wildflowers
Wildlife

Reviews

The hike is very easy, very flat. Parking was a little strange, right behind an auto shop basically inside a neighborhood. It was fun scoping out the petroglyphs all over the rocks, but we went in the afternoon in June and it got pretty hot with pretty much no shade (not the best timing on our part). So even though it’s short definitely bring some water!

Leave No Trace

Always practice Leave No Trace ethics on your adventures and follow local regulations. Please explore responsibly!

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