Last Updated on September 11, 2023 by
OK, not my favorite. Don’t get me wrong, the 2 mile circuit of literally hundreds of drawings etched into the volcanic tuff is like a scavenger hunt, only with no clues and no prizes. Interesting enough, but without a ton of purpose.
Petroglyph National Monument
Fees
Entrance Pass – FREE
Operating Hours
Visitors Center is open 9AM – 4PM
Trails are always open
Closest Towns
Bernalillo, NM – 18 miles
Santa Fe, NM – 65 miles
Boston, MA – 2,236 miles
Annual Visitors
Approximately 339,000 per year
Founded
June 27, 1990
My problem is the nearly complete lack of information surrounding the drawings. What is known is the general age of the drawings at 400-700 years old. Unfortunately, the indigenous people did not have any written history, oral history is spotty at best, and what little history is left is closely guarded by current Native Americans. That leaves us gringos with little to do but guess what the fascination is with turtles and aliens.
Compounded is the fact that dating the petroglyphs is hardly a science. They use the color of the oxidation to overlay over other petroglyphs to determine if they were done at roughly the same time (of course, that time covers a several hundred year span). That hardly seems specific to me.
There is some evidence of the Spanish influence with numerous crosses and sheep brands carved into the rock. At least these can be placed during a specific time when the Spanish were actively raising sheep in the valley. However, even the written history of these has been lost to time.
Ultimately, here’s my analogy – imagine your child found a baseball in your garage when you were cleaning it out preparing to sell the house. You tell him not to throw it out because it is significant to you. Naturally, he would have questions – how long have you had it?, was it from a Red Sox game or a Little League game?, home run or foul ball?, etc., etc. You, of course, have no answers for him other than to say it’s important. Consequently the child throws it in the trash when you’re not looking, and it is lost to history forever.
Ultimately, head to this site for a nice two mile walk and enjoy the entertaining carvings, but don’t try to glean meaning from it.
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