Petroglyph National Monument

 Petroglyph National Monument in Albuquerque, New Mexico is surrounded by housing developments but if you didn't know about it you wouldn't know it was there. The big lava basalt rocks and boulders were thrown here by the 5 small volcanos west of here thousands of years ago. The rocks are dark but when scratched are a light color underneath which has made them a favorite place to chisel out pictures or petroglyphs by the Indians that lived here from 300 years ago to over a thousand years ago. No one is sure what the petroglyphs mean. Maybe stories of travels, or hunting or wars or maybe religious symbols. There are several trails that are from a few hundred feet long to several miles long. These photos are of some of the well know petroglyphs as they are very near a parking area for those that want to see some of them but don't want to hike long distances. It has become difficult for the park management to keep out people that destroy the petroglyphs with spray paint and by shooting them and deciding to chip out more of the rocks. I can not understand any one that would want to deface these wonderful, interesting petroglyphs and rocks.