Albuquerque, N.M.
NPS Website; Local Website
WHAT IS IT?
Nearly 20,000 ancestral Puebloan petroglyphs carved into sooty black volcanic basalt rock.
BEAUTY (3/10)
The sharp black basalt rocks proved to be a perfect canvas for the enigmatic etchings of the ancestral Puebloans. It is too bad that the background for this artwork is the newly built houses of western Albuquerque. The 21st century houses, dusty lawns and protective fences remove much of the rocks’ mystique.
HISTORICAL INTEREST (4/10)
The petroglyphs certainly look historic. Sadly, the Site’s answers to when, why and how amount mainly to who knows?
CROWDS (4/10)
It takes only a few people to clog the narrow, steep trails at Boca Negra Canyon. We had to wait a number of times while people tried to scramble their way through the jagged basalt boulders and/or take a picture of that perfect petroglyph.
EASE OF USE/ACCESS (4/5)
Petroglyph NM forms a western boundary to the sprawl of suburban Albuquerque. The Visitor Center entrance is located at the intersection of Western Trail and Unser Boulevard. Yes, Unser Boulevard as in Indy Car and Pikes Peak Climb racers Al, Bobby and Al Jr.
Despite its central location, the Site is not too user-friendly.
Much of the Park’s lands are inaccessible. There is no scenic drive, and there are only three areas where hikes initiate. Two short, unpaved hikes up steep hills and through basalt rock petroglyphs began at Boca Negra Canyon. The hike into Rinconada Canyon is 2½ miles long and unpaved. The parking lot where you begin the Volcanoes hike is accessed on an unpaved road.
CONCESSIONS/BOOKSTORE (2/5)
There are not a lot of books for sale at Petroglyph NM and nothing unique to the Site. The Build and Erupt Your Own Volcano kits always tempt Michael.
COSTS (4/5)
Entrance into the Park is free, BUT on the weekends, parking at any of its parking lots costs $2. This fee is waived with the National Parks Pass.
RANGER/GUIDE TO TOURIST RATIO (1/5)
We did not see any Rangers during our visit. The VC has a newly installed touch-screen computer monitor that ostensibly answers any questions you might have about the Park. Michael took the computers Test Your Knowledge quiz about the Park and got every answer right. Before we had even seen the Site! Believe you me, Michael’s perfect score is not a testament to his intelligence, the questions were really easy.
TOURS/CLASSES (1/10)
No Ranger talks, no introductory film and no museum, just the aforementioned computer. You are on your own at Petroglyph NM.
FUN (2/10)
Gab had a lot of fun looking into houses with her binoculars.
WOULD WE RECOMMEND? (2/10)
Petroglyph NM ranks at the bottom of our Albuquerque destination spots. The Visitor Center provides no contextualization and no background understanding. If you have never seen petroglyphs before, without any teaching the sights are bound to overwhelm and confuse you. If you have seen petroglyphs, there is not much here to add to you knowledge.
TOTAL 27/80
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© 2005