In Fall of 2015, I was just beginning my quest to visit a National Park Service property in each state. At the time, my son was in college in San Francisco, and I would occasionally go out to visit him. I decided to take a week off work, visit Matt in school for a few days, then go on a VERY QUCK tour of the southwest. The idea of waiting for Mr. Right to come along and take adventures with me just doesn’t sit right with me, so I need to just GO when I want.

This was one of my first real solo trips. I visited the International Balloon Fiesta earlier in the day (the topic of a separate post), then went off to find the nearby Petroglyph National Monument. It was the closest NPS property on my way to Petrified Forest, and I wanted to take it in!

The Petroglyph National Monument is located just outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Monument is a group of several properties, as well as a visitor center. The Visitor Center is a great first stop for this site. There was a lot of information regarding the various hikes that are found at this site, and how to get to each one. There is also a good store there, with all the usual items found at a National Park store.

I chose to go to the Boca Negra Canyon, where in just a short hike, you can see many petroglyphs in the rocks along the way. The rock is basalt, left over from volcanoes that have long since gone dormant. The native people placed the petroglyphs for specific reasons, which might be to identify a source of water, a good place to camp, etc.

The site I chose did not have a separate visitor center, but it did have rangers available on the trail to answer questions. The hike was not exceptionally long, but it did go up into the mountain. The view was nice, overseeing Albuquerque. Since the balloon festival was going on, I could see several balloons still in the air.

The official NPS site for the Petroglyph National Monument is at: https://www.nps.gov/petr/index.htm

#NewMexico