Three Rivers Petroglyph Site

Bureau Of Land Management Recreation Site; More Than 21,000 Jornada Mogollon Petroglyphs Carved Between Roughly 900 And 1400 AD Along A Basalt Ridge, One Of The Largest And Most Accessible Concentrations In The Southwest · Tularosa, New Mexico

A low basalt ridge runs out into the Tularosa Basin below the Sacramento Mountains, and between roughly 900 and 1400 AD the Jornada Mogollon people covered it with more than 21,000 carvings. That is one of the largest concentrations of rock art in the Southwest, and what makes it unusual is the access: a marked trail runs about a mile along the crest of the ridge and the petroglyphs are on the rocks either side of it, at arm's length, with no fence and no glass. Most rock art sites are viewed from a distance or not at all. The subjects run from geometric patterns to masks, birds, bighorn sheep, fish, insects and human figures, and some of them are very strange indeed. The site is BLM-run with a self-service fee tube, a handful of picnic shelters and a small campground, and across the basin to the west you can see the white gypsum of White Sands from the ridge on a clear day, forty miles off across the basin, which explains the geography better than a map does.

Three Rivers Road, off US Highway 54, Tularosa, Tularosa, New Mexico, 88352, United States

Open all year, day and night, with a self-service fee tube at the entrance rather than a staffed station. There is no visitor centre and no ranger on duty most days. The small campground and the picnic shelters are available first come first served. The ridge trail is unlit and is walked in daylight. The access road from US 54 is paved for most of its length and the last section is maintained gravel.

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