Petroglyph National Monument & Map

Ancient people once roamed most areas of what was to become America. The prehistoric native inhabitants came from distant places when other lands were connected to our North American continent. When we walk in the midst of nature’s landscape, the beauty of sights and sounds are ever-present as birds fly, animals scurry and breezes flow. But there is a presence we never see or hear… an aura of previous inhabitants that came thousands of years before us.

Often these ancient people come alive through artifact treasures they left behind for us to enjoy, to wonder and to determine what their history meant to the world. Just minutes outside Albuquerque, the ancient Puebloan Indians have come alive through pertroglyphic images carved into volcanic-created rock that gives us glimpses into a 12,000 year history of human life along the Rio Grande River.

This place is the Petroglyph National Monument, a 7,244-acre wonder that holds the secrets to history of the Puebloans. Many of the over 25,000 petroglyph images are recognizable as animals and people. Many are unique graphical symbols and complex indistinguishable illustrations. Although we can surmise and theorize, the meanings and messages were only clearly understood by those that carved them. Perhaps that was intentional to give us hundreds of years of enjoyment of figuring out the puzzles of their history so that we in-turn could give generations to come a lifetime of pleasure and detailed knowledge of the past civilization.

The Albuquerque Petroglyph National Monument is indeed a monument left behind. A gift from the spirits of the people that carved these precious images. It is our responsibility to protect these petroglyphs as our gift to generations to come.

When you visit Petroglyph National Monument, stop at the Las Imagines Visitors Center located off Unser Blvd. on Western Trail Road which is 3 miles north of I40 west from Albuquerque. The orientation will make your time more enjoyable.