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Petroglyph National Monument protects one of the largest petroglyph sites in North America. It’s located in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Introduction to Petroglyph National Monument
Petroglyph National Monument contains an estimated 24,000 images carved by Ancestral Puebloans and Spanish settlers. Most of them date between the beginning of the 14th through the end of the 17th centuries, but some were carved up to 3,000 years ago. The site was declared a National Monument on June 27, 1990. It covers 7,236 acres.
Visiting Petroglyph National Monument
Petroglyph National Monument is a fee-free park (as of May 2025). The visitor center has no exhibits, but provides information and has a gift shop. All of the park’s trails are open year-round. Check the official website for more info.
Areas of Petroglyph National Monument
There are four areas open to the public: Boca Negra Canyon, Rinconada Canyon, Piedras Marcadas Canyon, and the Volcanoes Day Use Area. All are within a 6 ½ mile drive from the visitor center.
- Boca Negra Canyon is the most fully developed area of the park, with restrooms, shade, and a water fountain. It consists of three short trails and about 100 petroglyphs that can be seen within an hour of walking. The area is open 8:30am to 4:30pm daily, with the last entry at 4pm strictly enforced.
- Rinconcada Canyon has a vault toilet but no water. There’s a 2.2 mile round-trip trail of easy to moderate difficulty where you can see up to 300 petroglyphs. The parking lot is open daily from 8am to 5pm.
- Piedras Marcadas Canyon has no facilities. The trail is easy to moderate difficulty and is 1 ½ miles round-trip. There are around 400 petroglyphs along the trail. It’s open daily from sunrise to sunset.
- Finally, the Volcanoes Day Use Area has vault toilets but no other facilities. There’s a trail system that’s broken down into four trails ranging from easy to moderate. The shortest trail is a mile long to the JA Volcano and a scenic overlook. The next trail is a two mile loop to the Vulcan Volcano. It connects to the 2.3 mile North Volcanoes Loop. Finally, the longest trail takes hikers past all 3 volcanoes at the site and is 3 ½ miles long. The Volcanoes Day Use Area is open daily from 9am to 5pm.
Boca Negra Canyon
Due to time constraints, we were only able to fit in Boca Negra Canyon. The loop road runs counter-clockwise with parking for all three trails along the road.
Mesa Point Trail
First is the Mesa Point Trail, which should take about 30 minutes to complete. The trail heads up to the top of Mesa Point where there’s a great view of Albuquerque. There are also several impressive petroglyphs along the way.
Macaw Trail
The second trail is the Macaw Trail, which should take about five minutes to complete. There’s a petroglyph of what resembles a macaw along this trail.
Cliff Base Trail
The third and final trail at Boca Negra Canyon is the Cliff Base Trail. It contains several petroglyphs and should take about 15 minutes to complete.
