El Morro National Monument - New Mexico

Address:Ramah, New Mexico
Tel: (505) 783-4226

This surprising sandstone monument has a secret at its base - a hidden waterhole that has been providing sustenance to travelers for thousands of years. Inscriptions of names, dates, and stories in the rocks made by Anglos and Spaniards from as far back as the 1700s are visible from the Inscription Trail. In addition, there are ancestral Puebloan ruins and prehistoric petroglyphs left by travelers who passed through the area long ago. Longer and more challenging hikes with spectacular views of the Zuni Mountains and the El Malpais area are available too.

Rising 200 feet above the valley floor, this massive sandstone bluff was a welcome landmark for weary travelers. A reliable waterhole hidden at its base made El Morro (or Inscription Rock) a popular campsite. Beginning in the late 1500s Spanish, and later, Americans passed by El Morro. While they rested in its shade and drank from the pool, many carved their signatures, dates, and messages. Before the Spanish, petroglyphs were inscribed by Ancestral Puebloans living on top of the bluff over 700 years ago. Today, El Morro National Monument protects over 2,000 inscriptions and petroglyphs, as well as Ancestral Puebloan ruins.