One of the advantages of Albuquerque is its location. Situated in the Rio Grande river valley between the river to the west , the Sandia Mountains to the east, the Santa Fe mesa land and Espanola Valley to the north, and the continuation of the river valley to the south, the city is centrally located and an easy days' ride between the Zia, Laguna, Isleta and Sandia Indian Pueblos, the Sandia Mountain Wilderness area, the first major break in the mountains south of Santa Fe, historic Route 66 and the Petroglyph National Monument, among other attractions.
Today's ride to the Petroglyphs Monument took me part way down the Bosque Trail along the river to Montano bridge. From the bridge it was possible to look north up the enitre width of river and see flotilla after flotilla of Canadian Geese and various ducks taking advantage of the flyway and easy riding on the river.
View up the Rio Grande from Montano Bridge
The highway across the bridge had a generous shoulder and after climbing up an incline to the top of the mesa land on the west of the river, I left the highway for another bike and hike trail that led to the visitors center for the Petroglyphs. This trail drops onto Unser Road just before the visitors center. Unser Road itself has both a bike hike trail along its length and a wide shoulder marked as a bike lane.
At the visitors center, one of the park rangers and a group of teenage boys were busy building a fire in the native horno, a beehive shaped oven of adobe clay, in preparation for baking bread as part of a training program. When I arrived, they were in the process of spraying down several of the desert willows leaning over the horno to prevent them from catching any sparks. The ranger inside gave me a map to Boca Negra Canon, four miles up the road where the Petroglyphs are actually located. I took a few minutes to examine the exhibits on the history of the park, examples of the native flora and fauna and a short explanation about the nature of the petroglyphs.
Petroglyph means literally drawing on stone and the petroglyphs found here are distinctly different from cliff paintings or cave paintings found in other areas of New Mexico. The rocks of the area are basaltic and volcanic in nature, since the mesa land on the west side of the river valley is actually the bottom edge of the huge volcanic flow from the Valle Grande Caldera 60 0r 70 miles to the north in the Jemez mountains east of Los Alamos. Over the millenia, because of exposure to the elements, and the slow decomposition of the minerals in the rock, the rocks have developed a dark sort of varnish. Unlike the cliff and cave paintings, the petroglyphs are literally scribed or incised through this thin dark outer layer to reveal the lighter color of the stone beneath.
Boca Negra Canyon was both a sacred site and a major cross road for ancient Anasazi and later Pueblo and other Native American trade routes. The floor of the canyon provided a secure camping and gathering area with easy access to water, and excellent sight lines from the top of the three steep mesa walls which form the canyon itself. Many of the petroglyphs were left as gifts for the spirits, while others were used to document the passing of individuals, trade goods and ceremonies.
petroglyph of a man holding a bow with possibly a sun or fertility symbol below
According to the information on the map, the park has over 15,000 petroglyphs, of which approximately 1 % are viewable. The rest of the park is considered sacred land and a majority of the petroglyphs are not generally accessible to the public.
The petroglyphs which are on view in Boca Negra are located on the sides of the hill above the picnic tables and restrooms. There is a paved path of sorts which leads past many of the petroglyphs and to the top of the hill from which you can get a panoramic view of Albuquerque to the east , south , and north, while to the west, the highway continues across the mesa and disappears towards Gallup.
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