Petroglyph National Monument

We wanted to do a day trip so driving to Albuquerque to hike at the Pretroglyph National Monument was perfect. It's a two hour drive from the reservation. So we packed a few snacks and hit the road!

What is a Petroglyph, you ask? According to the National Park Service website, "Petroglyph National Monument protects one of the largest petroglyph sites in North America, featuring designs and symbols carved onto 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" 

Here are a few Petroglyphs that we saw during the hike up the Boca Negra Trail

Overlooking Boca Negra, 

Is an actual neighborhood!! This was completely different than our time at Mesa Verde.

After this mini hike, we decided to drive to another part of the monument that featured volcanoes. What was interesting about this national park is that each part was located in different parts of Albuquerque.

Some of the trails were closed for restoration but as we were leaving we got some great views of the sun setting!