Tuesday, April 19, 2016

P is for Petroglyph National Monument @AprilA2Z #AtoZChallenge

Picture from Wikipedia
Petroglyph National Monument falls under the National Park Service, and stretches along Albuquerque, New Mexico's west mesa. As the NPS website says, "Petroglyph National Monument protects on of the largest petroglyph sites in North America, featuring designs and symbols carved into volcanic rocks by Native Americans and Spanish settlers 400 to 700 years ago. These images are a valuable record of cultural expression and hold profound spiritual significance for contemporary Native Americans and for the descendants of the early Spanish settlers."

There's a visitor's center, but there aren't any petroglyph viewing areas there, so you'll have to go to the trails, which you can hike.

There are three trails where you can see petroglyphs and one without any. It's very neat to be able to be up close and personal with such vivid history.

xoxo Sarah



8 comments:

  1. I think we visited these; I did remember being intrigued with them.

    betty

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They are very neat! It's cool to have history so accessible.

      Delete
  2. We did a big roadtrip last year and visited lots of National Parks out west, but we missed this one. Aren't all National Parks free this week? Would be a good opportunity for folks to visit the Petroglyph National Monument :-)

    Cheers - Ellen | thecynicalsailor.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I believe they are! They do that periodically.

      Delete
  3. Those are fascinating to see in person. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great info. My favourite local place that has a rich history of cave drawings and rock formations is the Cango Caves in the Western Cape (South Africa). Though most people only think about the beautiful rock formations within the caves, there are a few drawings on the cave walls of elephants and other wildlife the ancient people interacted with. Good luck with the rest of the AtoZchallenge.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! That's fascinating! I'd love to see something like that.

      Delete