We picked up maps at the Visitors Center, where there are actually NO petroglyphs! There are walking trails with flowers and plants, but we drove a couple miles up street and arrived at the Boca Negra Canyon site. The trail is about one mile round trip with three short, uneven moderately strenuous paths. Some the the trail had concrete steps, but much of it was boulders to climb up or around. It wasn't bad, and they estimate there are about 100 petroglyphs.
The boulders have images made by the Ancestral Pueblo People 400-700 years ago. Some of the images are things we recognize today, however, their meanings are only known to the original carvers.
Back at the RV we had lunch then headed another five miles to the northern most site, Piedras Marcadas Canyon. This part has the densest concentration of petroglyphs along the 17-mile volcanic escarpment, with an estimated 5000 documented images of the monument's total of 20,000! Along the 1.8 walking trail you can see up to 400 of the 5000. This trail was an easy, level sandy trail which skirts the edge of a residential area! Piedras Marcadas Canyon means "canyon of marked rocks," and we certainly did see lots of them.
Archeologists believe that groups traveled near and from from pueblos along the banks of the Rio Grande and elsewhere to offer prayers and carve images sacred to them.
The carving on the left side of the rock below - just to the left of the large light spot - reminds me of an airplane!
As we were going along the trail, we spotted a road runner. He didn't seem afraid of us and followed us for quite a while! We kept thinking about Wylie Coyote and the Road Runner cartoons ... Beep, beep!
And, thankfully, the trail was well marked!
We were thankful the weather was mild, about 40 degrees and sunny which made the exploring pretty pleasant. We decided the stop was well worth it and were happy we did it. There is one other site to explore, Rinconada Canyon which we may do on another trip, but for now it is on to Arizona!
