After leaving Jemez Falls I continued south on NM-4 through the Jemez and Zia Pueblos just enjoying the scenery (though now that I’m back home I realized I missed so many things). Decided to head into Albuquerque and check out Petroglyph National Monument which has been on my list for quite some time and I’ve never had the time for it before.
I started at the visitor center and caught most of the educational film which is shown at the small outdoor amphitheater. The monument splits up across 5-6 different trailheads in the northwest part of the city. Around 1,000 petroglyphs – rock art from engravings – can be seen from the different trails.
The visitor center only has a small display of artifacts and they are replicas, and also the “visitor center” is more of a souvenir store. Not much to see here.
The small stand outside the gift store is the actual information kiosk – be sure to stop here and get maps & brochures.
Afterwards I drove to the Rinconada Canyon trailhead but saw this sign posted about frequent vehicle break-ins. After sitting in the parking area for a while to scope out the situation I wasn’t feeling it. Did some map reading and lined up my destinations, decided it would be best to come back on my return trip home instead [Update from the future: this plan worked out quite well]. For now it’s back to the road – going to head way out west towards Grants and Gallup for no reason other than I’ve never seen that area before and heard it’s interesting.
