Reviews of Petroglyph National Monument (Tourist Attraction)

Jennifer Mazur

Very cool geology and history working together here. Be aware that even though some areas have shade, there is not much of it, and some of the water stations were not working when we attended. Make sure to stop by the visitor's center to watch the information video before you go if you have time; it really helps give context to the area.

Maximilian Upp

This place is very cool. Not even outside of Albuquerque and you can see some living history on a short hike. The volunteers are incredibly helpful and the trails are well done. This is a great place to spend as much time as you want or just an hour.

Jess Grewe

Really neat place to visit for a quick hike! Family friendly.

srinivasa singireddy

Good hike. Nice petroglyphs. Top of the mountain is amazing. One can see the entire Albuquerque

Gene Payne

Nice short hike to see a neat historical site. Be ready to take a lot of photos.

Miriam Inbar

The hike was short and there were a few petroglifs here and there, but it was really hot.

Robert Peeples

This place is amazing. There are four separate areas that make up the Petroglyph National Monument. Hundreds of Petroglyphs within an easy hike around the areas. Take lots of pictures but respect the history and delicate nature of the artifacts.

Curtis Ray

Hot. Rocks far apart. Glyphs don't look like anything so doesn't "tell a story"

Jarrett Osburn

Make sure you GPS yourself to the trails you want to hike. Or, if you goto the Park's shop, they can give you some direction on where to go.

wyrmy's weirdness

Hot sand, wear tennis shoes. Otherwise, very cool.

hogan haake

Kids didn't care for it, but would like to come back and look on my own.

Robert Blood

Fascinating petroglyphs and great views.

Jacob Dong

Take a short walk and observe all the petroglyphs. It is quite amazing how old they are and they're pretty well preserved.

Kate Leitch

Make sure you check the info at the visitor center. The petroglyphs aren't actually at the visitor center! It's a hike on different trails to see them. I managed to find a few on my own and only going .6 of a mile on the Rinconada trail.

Gena Madrid

I love the petroglyphs national monument. It's very enjoyable to walk and the views are beautiful. Sufficient parking available. A must stop if you are visiting Albuquerque. Worth enjoying the day at

Karen Smith

Views were amazing, the rock formations were interesting. The video they show at the visitors center was the best ever, it is a must see thing to do!!!

Cecilia Cox

Very informative Ranger Station. Nice hiking trails. Beautiful views. Lots of interesting Petroglyphs to see. Will go again.

Aidan Sandoval

Beautiful hike. Amazing views of the city. Come here all the time and the dogs love it.

Mia Jerry

There is three parks to choose from we were driving by and did a park that was close by the info center. Everything was easy to follow and such a great experience for the whole family within minutes youll see what someone drew 1000s of years ago! For about 30minutes we found about 20. I would recommend also the vegetation is unique to view as well

Raymond Ellis

Great National Monument! The petroglyphs were interesting and there are great views of the area along the trails. There was also a lot of interesting plant and animal life throughout the Monument.

Patrick Hall

My son and I hiked along the trail, really cool. It was something seeing the petroglyphs .

Sandy Brainard

Quick and easy hikes, good views for a day hiking area.

Juan Maestas

Excellent time woukd definitely recommend for a day trip, bring water though it does get hot

Aaron Barba

The quiet of the desert provides a calm and subdued grace needed in tough moments.

George Waialeale

Small bit of hiking and cool petroglyphs during the hike

Beverly Duffy

Amazing landscape and views of the petroglyphs! The information center provides active seminars and videos for educational and entertainment purposes. The rangers are extremely knowledgeable and helpful. The gift shop has many locally made items for sale as well as nature guides and maps. There are three areas designated for hiking and viewing as well as the volcanoes nearby for climbing. This is all within and or near the Albuquerque metropolitan area.

Owen Hall

It has a nice walking trail. About 2 miles, so very easy to complete. Took us about 1 hour to get through. Go in the morning when it's cooler outside. Keep your eyes up and looking so you can see the petroglyphs. I would give it 5 stars but the visitors center did not have the national Park coins.

Shannon Corder

This is a beautiful open space to visit. It is an easy walk, relatively flat, and dog friendly. It is rather exposed so I wouldn’t do it in the heat of the day in August. It is fun to try and pick out the various petroglyphs scattered in the rocks. Some are easy to find and I am sure I missed several.

Saeed Jaffer

Worth a quick visit. Mesa trail up to plateau has best petroglyphs and great view of ABQ

Lucas Gerbeaux

It’s great to see history unravel in front of your eyes. Native American history is probably one of the most underrepresented in the USA ...

blake hutton

It's absolutely beautiful what a wonderful hike take your dogs with you but keep them on leash very important have fun

Katie Grimes

So important to visit these places soaked in history. These are our roots. First forms of communication in your face amongst gorgeousviews.

Logan Carbin

Stunning views and decent trails. They're a little washed out this time of year but that didn't stop me.

Chelsea Roe

We had a great time hiking and trying to spot as many petroglyphs as possible.

Veronica Torres

It's a great walk. The view is gorgeous.

Felicity Duran

Great couple of shorter trails here. It’s great for families. The staff were very polite. Definitely bring water and sunscreen! Sadly we saw many people going off of the trails and lots of graffiti. More could be done to protect the petroglyphs in my opinion. The restrooms weren’t bad at all for a national monument. I’ve definitely seen much worse. These had been recently cleaned and were well stocked. I would definitely hike here regularly if I lived in the state.

Steve Hartig

Really neat area and a nice hike but I have to admit it was hard at times to figure out which were Petroglyphs and what was nature

T Tass

Beautiful. Amazing to think of the people that put this here millenniums ago. Thank goodness it is preserved from developers and city growth. Worth a quick and easy walk to see (or a longer walk too).

Tucker Dunaway

Very cool! Path is a little hard to follow and a bit rocky but well worth it

Marwa A.

Really nice monument!! Great for hiking and taking pics. Have to be careful on the trails though so you don't fall!

Wes Barr

Hike was alittle hard for small kids. The views were mainly over looking houses. Saw some really interesting petroglyphs however. One lady fell on the hike and sat for a long time blocking the trail for others to pass

Christa Tomazin

This place is amazing! There are three parks you can visit. Four if you add in the volcano park. The visitor center only has information. You cannot access the trail heads from here! Only one location is wheelchair friendly. We only visited the park with 400+ Petroglyphs. Get ready for sandy shoes!!

Turtle Skunk

This ws pretty cool. Climbing all the way to the top with three kids was pretty fun

Philip Marez

Great place to take a hike and see some great views.

Livio Azzoni

Great visit, a bit of a rough climb, but totally worth it for both the petroglyphs and the view from the top of the mesa

Danelle H

It was neat, but I didn't learn much. It would be nice to have more information available on-site.

Christine Bryant

Amazing place to hike through. Sacred &.spiritual site preserved for all to see & photograph.

Susan Starnes

Nice park staff, ready to answer any questions and give helpful recommendations. 4 separate areas to explore. All free except a $2.00 parking fee at one. Have plenty of water with you. Not all areas have restrooms so be prepared. Interesting historical and cultural place.

Dan Laicha

Such a gorgeous view of the city and the mountains! The volcanic rocks and petroglyphs are very cool!

wendy ljungren

Pleasant trails in a high desert environment. The trail markers have degraded over time, so not as informative as it could be. The visitor center was very helpful

Kazi Md. Mahabubur Rahman

It's a really nice place to discover. Follow the official trail, otherwise you may get lost and meet

Eliot Jacobson

There aren't many things to do in Albuquerque, if you're up for a short hike this is one of the best.

Albert Ulak

Simply amazing. Got here early and had the park to ourselves. Truly a humbling experience.

Kevin O'Brien

Excellently preserved petroglyphs. Well maintained facilities. Even had a few run ins with the local wildlife. Beautiful place

Jeff Grenier

Awesome views of ABQ from the volcano's view point

Angie Rhinehart

Our family had a great experience here. They have a Junior Ranger program which I recommend for kids. It helps them engage on their level.

Dylan Walker

It really just looks like someone let their 3 year old have a marker to draw on rocks. How can be sure these are legitimate? May once have been appealing, but now you're just surrounded by houses. Not worth the drive.

Brian Brooks

This is a must see if you are in ABQ. The trails are well defined and are fairly easy to travel. It's a remarkable place to walk around.

Joshua Shuttlesworth

I've seen a few better petroglyph parks in the area (hawaii has some amazing ones) but if you have a national park pass it's worth a stop since its included. If you plan to buy a national park pass dont try to do it here as they are not offered you will have to pay the entrence fee.

Kathi Jozaitis

Not the best hike I've taken, but not bad. Biggest complaint was lack of trail markings. If you go, bring a hat and water. No shade!!!

Gottfried Kibelka

Don't give up, the petroglyphs are coming. We wanted to beat the heat and got on the trail before we got primed at the visitor center. We started getting disappointed when we were hiking for 1/4 mile, a sign told us that there was a petroglyph half way up the slope and we couldn't find it. A small group that was hiking in front of us decided to turn back not shortly after and we decided to take an interest in flora and fauna and continue on with a hike. After about 1 mile we hit the mother load of petroglyphs. Very nice, and an interesting hike.

Susan Lewis

Interesting looking at these petragraphs from ancient native Americans

Jan Gamlish

Was neat to see the drawings on the rocks . I don't know if they are real old? Nice Walk through the sand...

Emily Sharp

Multiple trails and a visitors center with more information - cool place

Yvon Farmer

Petroglyph National Park was a great place to go explore. There are several different trails depending on your abilities. The visitors center employees I've met in the shop have been very helpful very knowledgeable of the park in the history.

Josh Aycock

Great small hike here in town. Enough to see here to keep the family interested for a solid hour. Hike is easy, but is rocky and high enough to make the experience feel like an accomplishment (especially for those that don't hike very often.) Worth a visit.

Matt Crawford

We completed the Rinconada Canyon trail and had a lot of fun spotting all the carvings along the way. I was very surprised to see all the millipedes. No rattlesnakes this time. The return trail was a little less fun so we decided to off-trail a bit and follow a dried up creek bed and guess at what animal made tracks in the sand. You could follow the creek bed all the way to the road and with your way back around to the parking lot but we decided to go back on the trail. Pretty simple. A great way to get out for an hour or two.

Mariko Urabe

There are many petroglyphs!! I found them easily.

Jay Lee

Gorgeous, majestic vistas amidst primordial volcanic crags inscribed with ancient messages, teeming with life and an infinite love. Check out the bookstore, it's well stocked.

Karl Waters

Interesting place to find the past,how people lived and communicated

Christine Jensen

It's a beautiful hike and there were some interesting markings on the rocks but it wasn't my favorite hiking experience. We have a family of 7 and everyone made it to the top for pictures and check out the petroglyphs markings but, it was extremely hot and I would have rather done hiking experience that you're not so exposed to the elements the entire time! :-)

Mariah Ketchum

I enjoyed it very much, nice people working their.

Terri Newman

We went out first thing in the morning, before it got hot and before other visitors came. It was so calm there and the petroglyphs were truly spiritual. One of the local people suggested we bring an offering of food and ask for a blessing. It was a great idea! So glad we went!

Krystina Isaac

Park is segmented around town. Visitor center is just a gift shop, but be sure to ask questions because the staff does give very useful information for the various locations.

Vic Pittman

Where the ancient and cool artist used to meet....lol. Neat place...check it out.

Joey Heth

Hiked Rinconada Canyon trail. Easy 2.2 mi hike

Root User

Worth the time.to hike around and check it out. Bring water as there ia no shade. A nice family experience overall. Make sure to Stop at the visitor center first and watch the short movie.

Benjamin Zuehlke

Great place to walk and explore. There are glyphs all over the place! What mysteries are yet to be revealed from the interesting culture that lived here? Some glyphs of the sun perfectly face east.

Baby Is Hungry

Pretty cool place to hang out in somebody's backyard. Homes are literally right there. I saw a kid riding a bike, a father grabbing his wife's face with his hands, and some ancient graffiti from 1988 on a historical landmark. Not a bad place to eve's drop on couples conversations too. I actually witnessed a couple breaking up while I was sunbathing on a rock. Pretty sure they thought I was dead because they kept fighting right in front of me. Oh no.

James Skubal

This place is awesome I went during the government shut down so no one else was there

Kris

Cute place with some cool petroglyphs. More of a place to go on a hefty walk or moderate hike that happens to have some cool historical features. The distributed maps were a little tough to use and orient yourself since it covered the whole park. Larger signs indicating the names of the trails would be super helpful as they were small and somewhat hidden. Note: there are NO PETROGLYPHS AT THE VISITOR'S CENTER!. No need to go there for anything.

Aquamdax Daes

Engrossing history! Peaceful and serene!

jerry redfern

A walk back in time. In years past, one could hike up and down the hillsides looking for hidden pictures - but no more. The trail is fenced because: bozos. So bring binoculars. And water - the trail has no shade.

Marlene Phillips

It was ok. Would say it wasn't worth the money, but it was only 1 dollar for parking. Be careful to ignore GPS directions and just look for road signs.

Loretta Bolden

The trails were well beaten and not very hard to climb for older people like me. The petroglyphs were very interesting and have preserved well over the years from graffiti and destruction.

Stacy Assaf

In a place where the sky never seems to end, one can also find history on the rocks and earth. Hundreds of petroglyphs dot this area, many of which are a mere steps away from the parking areas. Use your QR reader to get a narrated tour by a qualified docent!

Melissa Alexander

Lots of great exercise walking and hiking various degrees of trails varying from some paved to rugged to photograe ph the park and petroglyphs. Three trailheads for the petroglyphs and one for volcanos. Visitor center provides the resources and trail maps.

linda baca

It's a mess outside of fenced area no landscaping just dirt and weeds eyesore for neighborhood

Larry Geiger

Amazing historical drawings. Easy walking.

Darin Nordstrom

This is a cool little excursion, there's enough to keep you occupied for a couple hours and plenty to explore and hike.

Jeannie

Many to see. A lot to learn. Helpful guide. Worth the hike.

Andrew Armijo

It is gorgeous up here. Amazing desert wildlife, views that are draw dropping of both the nature and the city. Amazing foot paths. Great for a drunk or a mild hike. Plan to keep coming.

Kim I

Neat stop on our way through Albuquerque! We really enjoyed it and spent about 2 hours here, on the short trail, since we had two small kids in strollers. The park ranger was really nice and great with directions

Stefan Waldvogel

Big park but only a hand full trails. The rest is protected.

Kevin Bingham

Definitely worth a stop over to visit this spectacular array of petroglyphs and to share in the experience of climbing around the rocks to find them

Ray Mora

Nice place. Must go see.

Susan Treu

Boca negra canyon was incredible!

Hugo Stackel

We decided to visit the Rinconada Canyon Trail and we enjoyed the experience. The trail is a 2.2 mile loop with modest inclines along the way. The trail surface is mostly sand. Most people in average shape should have little difficulty completing this trail. Bring water, a hat, and sunscreen. The glyphs are not always easy to spot, but are an impressive sight! Recommend this trail for sure!

Steffen

This place is so informational and interesting! There are hundreds of petroglyphs to see on multiple different trails. It is so awesome to see the history of the native people of the area.

Carlie Biron

Great hike! Will definitely go back without puppies next time!

Brandon Oliver

Easy access trail to the hills of petroglyphs. There are a lot more off the trail if you're willing to look in the rock hills, very cool nature hike.

Stephan Gaeth

great set of parks, fun short and long hikes. great cheap thing to do.

Daniel C

It was amazing to connect with history and reflect on whoever created the art. I didn't make it to the top of the hill but the view of Albuquerque was great. The memorial is a treasure for the city.

Melva Ferguson

Fantastic! You don't need binoculars to see the images clearly. Well worth the short hike.

Chanda Scott

Very interesting hike. My family and I had fun finding the petroglyphs, seeing different kinds of flowers and some wildlife.

Bonnie Lamb

It's a great place to walk. But people don't clean up their dog poop. Also the dogs r not on a leash.

Wenpeng Xu

Easy to access and great place to see ancient culture.

Monty Patel

Beautiful place with a small hike up the mountain.

Dianna Mullet

I recommend this trail (Volcanoes Trail off Atrisco Vista) for families with children or dogs, and trail runners. The trail is wide and has gentle slopes most of the way. The ascent up the volcano is steeper and very gravely/rocky on the east slope. With children it would be better to ascend on the east and descend on the west side. There are vault toilets at the trail head. The busiest times are weekend mornings.

shane heath

Pretty neat to see. Definitely worth the visit. Some are from vandals or more recent times, but you can tell the old ones when you see them. Try to imagine what they were thinking about.

Bob King

Petroglyphs are pretty common throughout the southwest but not in this concentration. One will need to drive a bit to places where they are easily viewed. Well worth the short walk to see them.

CJ K

Love walking my dog here.

Tiffany O

Ancient drawings on volcanic black basalt boulders estimated to be from 1000-1600 AD. More than 25,000 petroglyphs on 17 miles of canyon trails. One of the largest protected petroglyph sites in North America.

Joe Solomon

Great hike for city views, they closed off the south volcano for restoration of native vegetation but still worth it for a quick hike.

Meredith Hemphill

The petroglyphs are a delight to behold! We had the best time trying to spot all of them and guessing what they might be or mean. Make sure you're ready to do some walking, and bring your water bottle.

Lynn Duff

An easy one mile hike with the kids and your dog will take you to see art inscribed on the black rocks. This National Monument has some of the most important images and many are very old. If you go, choose a cool day as there is no shade available. Be sure to bring your camera and visit the Ranger station to check out the books available for sale. It's free.

Meandering Murphis

J brought me here. I've been meaning to stop bye for a while, especially considering how many times I've been past on my way to other hikes or places. It's beautiful. I didn't take any pictures this time but I will definitely next. The artistry on the rocks is awesome, amazing, and makes you feel like you're in a time warp. It's so neat they've lasted so long. We only did one of the trails in the park but I'm now more than excited to see all of the hidden mysteries and feel the awesome energies. Where we went down the snowy rock face was a little difficult but was an easy tread once we got down to the bottom where a lot of intersecting trails meet. I will definitely be back. See You soon!

Haread Babydool

I recommend this place to our principal since I want the kids to explore some artifacts like volcanic cones. The place is big that you can divide the class so that you would not take that much of time. The kids really did enjoy the trip!

Karylee Harrison

What a great hike and lots to see!

Emily Fox

We really enjoy our local National Monument! The Rinconada Canyon Trail is great for a quick walk and we take our toddler for hiking practice. This spring we've seen lots of birds, including hummingbirds and roadrunners, beautiful flowers, cacti, and other desert prairie flora, and plenty of cool bugs! This is a great spot for a nature walk with kids of any age, or to bring out of town visitors to get a taste of New Mexico right here in town! Not to mention the petroglyphs! Be sure to keep a watch on the rocks to the north and west on the first half of the loop for loads of petroglyphs easily viewed from the trail. The signage gives great context and history so be sure to read along!

Mike Saller

This national monument felt more like a neighborhood park. There is no admission fee and there are lots of suburban homes surrounding the place. It's mostly level but hard to keep track of where the trails are. You have to look really close to see most petroglpyhs.

2ds Castillo

You want beautiful views of Albuquerque? This is the place to be! Awesome hiking, running, of just sometime for yourself be here.... One of my favorite night spot destination.

Wendy N.

Think it cost 2.00 to get in, noone was attending the gate, but left envelopes out. Neat peice of history. Very steep trails up the mts.

AStupefiedSteve

Great if you have an hour to kill around Albuquerque. However, the petroglyphs were about a mile down a road through a residential area which was kind of odd.

Stefany Simons

Great place to walk run take your dog

Elizabeth K

Boca Negro area needs better trail signs and map. The map was barely legible and the trail signs were not accurate stating the picnic area was part of the trail.

Michael Boyle

These National Parks are just beautiful and words just don't do them justice. Mine at least. If you haven't been, please take the time to enjoy.

Harvey Carlock

Wonderful National Monument Park with several easy walkable trails that reveal many ancient petroglyphs left by the Pueblos peoples centuries ago. These amazing etchings depict sacred religious and cultural symbols that are not only inspiring but well preserved for generations to learn from and enjoy for years to come!

Stuart Forthman

Totally enjoyed the visit I am handicapped and the trails weren't hard to navigate

Teresa Pijoan

Beautiful vistas, lovely snakes & birds. Make sure you have permission first. Enjoy!

zaiah martines

Easy to find. Great roads and parking

Sue F

Wonderful petroglyphs, very private when we went. Great experience

Marianne Fiorio Ward

Easy hike, beautiful scenery and of course, the petroglyphs themselves!

Richard English

No public restrooms no shade no Rangers trash on the ground

James Rowland

Speechless, what can you say when you look at the ancient writings. Several places were accessible to people with disabilities and most all was accessible to the minimally fit. I will return again to see other sections.

Ashlee Essary

I love seeing history first hand. This feels so much more personal, knowing there were people there way before me, trying to leave their mark.

John Gearheart

Nice place to visit. They have a few things to see and a small visitors center. The employees are very helpful.

ayo nuh

Pretty cool area. Very beautiful.

Karin Ward

Great hike along the volcanoes trail!perfect hike for a blue skies day! Great views of Sandia Mountain.

Laura Chestnut

We did the Piedras Marcadas trail, a 1.5mi loop. The trail was pretty flat, but sand like you were walking across a beach so it required a bit of effort. We were lucky to be invited to tag along with a group that had arranged for a ranger guide. You could definitely do the walk yourself but we probably would have missed some of the petroglyphs and definitely would not have known about some of the plants. The visitor's center did have a nice area of labeled plants. We set off at 9 and it was hot. Definitely worth seeing.

Sam Karns

It is a beautiful place. The only problem is the airport to the west of the monument. I was out walking at the volcano day use area on Mar. 27, 2019 and a small private plane buzzed directly over the monument eight times in an hour. He was joined by a small private helicopter doing the same. As you can imagine there was quite a racket. If you are looking for some peace and quiet away from the city, don't go to the Petroglyph Nat'l Mon.

Gwanny Tjoa

Nice park. Small enough that it doesn't take long to tour

Ali Ward

Great hike for littles. Steep with lots of boulders, but quick and clearly marked with a great view. Pay $1 for parking on weekdays, $2 for parking on weekends. Open on Easter!

Adrienne L.

If you want a great view of the Sandia mountains and the volcanoes on the west Mesa, come to this monument. Just be sure to bring water with you and wear good shoes.

Prius Wanderer

Take water for yourself and your dogs. Zoom lens is very helpful!! If I were to do it again, I would walk back out the way I walked in instead of finishing the loop. The sand was really difficult to walk through on the backside.

R G

Nice, easy hike. Definitely do it early morning or in the spring/fall. There is no tree cover and I imagine it is very hot during the summer. Lots of cool petroglyphs to see!

Chris K

Very interesting to see and a great excuse to get out and hike around. Park staff at visitor center was nice and informative.

Jack Gilbert

Interesting collection of petroglyphs - not exceptionally well laid out though - but a worthwhile walk in the desert.

Jeremy McPherson

Easy trail, no coverage make sure to wear sunscreen, a few hills nothing major, soft sand can be tricky for some wear proper shoe attire

Sunz

Nice paths and trails would recommend.

Martha Stark

Very cool glyphs with a good variety of hiking trails. Would definitely recommend the video before the trails. Clean and hidtorical.

Wilfred Hatch

Hiked the short route and although the trails were dirt and sand, they were fairly easy to travel. Have a bad knee, but still managed to get to the Third site along the trail without any trouble. The atmosphere is really quiet in a scenery is very photographic. Will return when my knee is repaired.

Britt Wright

Many years ago, hiking in the park, one could actually get close enough to touch the petroglyphs. Not so any more, but it's still possible to see and photograph them. Just from a distance now. Trails have barriers to keep people away from them. Overall it's a neat place to be and see.

Jean Wilkinson

Amazing to see actual pictographs. Take water and sunscreen!

Mark A

Great hiking. Beautiful views.

Jason Jensen

It is like a bunch of black rocks on the side of a small hill... I mean it is a nice park I guess but.. why?

Kalenah Moore

Fun place to visit. We enjoyed walking the dogs around. Unfortunately there are places around that don't allow them, but most around petroglyph do. There are nice trails and coo things too see! We enjoyed our time here and recommend it if you're over on the west side.

Nicole Sahd

Go either in the morning or evening when it's cool. Beautiful scenery.