Petroglyph National Monument Visitor Center

"It's good to know that the Visitor information center is not where the trails begin, but there is a cool park store and a very informative video that plays on good weather days. To get to the trails you should Google their names: Boca Negra Canyon, Rinconada Canyon and Piedras Marcadas Canyon. The Monument doesn't charge a fee and is the largest in any urban area, but still held sacred by the pueblo peoples. Great views of the entire Rio Grande Valley."

"The Petroglyph National Monument Visitor Center is a small site but worth a quick stop if you want to speak to a park rangers or get an overview of the park and trails. The visitor center, located in what was previously an old Adobe home, is quite small. There is a gift shop and information kiosk at the top of the slope. The public restrooms are pit toilets located near the parking lot. There is no exhibit hall, but there are some information signs around the Visitor Center. There is also a 20 minute film shown on the patio which provides a great overview of the geological formation of the basin area as well as the petroglyphs themselves. Ask a ranger the start the film if it is not already showing. Note that there are no petroglyphs at this location. Instead, you will need to drive to either the Boca Negra Canyon, the Rinconada Canyon, or the Piedras Marcadas Canyon."

"This was my first time out here. I lived here all my life I never thought to come here. This place is so 👍. I can't wait to come back and visit all the trails."

"Amazing. I can imagine so many ways our ancestors traversed through these regions... long before it was referred to as Apacheria. Beautiful wonder. Thank you Grandmothers.... Grandfathers. 'Ixehe"

"I took a cab to petroglyphs national monument visitor center. By the time I went to the visitor center, it was only 8 o'clock, the visitor center would open only at 8.30. So I just walked around and met a fellow hiker. She told me that she lives around and she told me to watch out for rattlesnakes because there are so many of those. The flora there were labeled and there was a plant which can be used to treat rattlesnake bites. On another note, it is not really a visitor center. It's called a visitor center, but it's actually an information desk and that is where the passports to your national stamps are located. It's just one stamp and next to it is the park gift shop. The gift shop opens at nine o'clock. I started hiking and I saw so many critters. So many of those everywhere, I had to be so careful not to step on them. I had to watch every step of mine. When I went to the information desk, the ranger told me that I can go to the Rinconada Canyon, there is a connector trail of one mile to the Rinconada trailhead and then the Rinconada trail itself is roughly 2-2.5 miles. She told me I could do that. She gave me maps of the park and then I asked her for the stamp. She also stamped in my passport to your national parks book. I watched a movie about the Petroglyphs National Monument - it was like 20-25 minutes maybe. So it was around 9 o'clock by the time the movie was done and by the time the gift shop was also open. So I went and got a fridge magnet. And after that, I started hiking and I took the one mile connecting trail to the Rinconada Canyon and there I did the canyon loop. I saw a couple of petroglyphs which were pretty cool and there were some explanations but no matter how much you try to explain or what story you try to tell, you cannot really know what the petroglyph means. Only the creator of the petroglyph truly knows what they're making and everyone else is not really aware of it. One can make their interpretations but no matter what one interprets, it may not be the right thing. So that's the bottom line. I saw a lot of critters, a bunch of salamanders and some red, tiny red crustaceans. It was also pretty hot, but manageable. There are so many other hikes that can be explored in the area."