The hikers were Pam Bliss, leader, Scott lake, Dawn Leach, Maggie Garner, Bob Haladay, Judith Parsons & Bruce Newton & dog, Ellie, Rebecca Helianthus & dog, Pekoe and Kathleen Rhoad. The day was warm and great for a hike. There were many great petroglyphs and number of unusual ones. One of a fish and a number of Kokopelli. We are only able to show a very few. In several areas there are “walls” of many petroglyhs of similar or diverse shapes.
Hike 1: La Cienega Canyon Hike to Petroglyphs Information:
Drive about 0.6 mile past the Cieneguilla Petroglyphs parking lot on a dirt road (not bad at all), then park and hike into a broad canyon along a wide dirt trail to see several panels of petroglyphs. The hike is easy, and the petroglyphs are very good (aside from the fact that modern people have also scrawled things on the rocks). Round trip 3 miles.
Hike 2: Cieneguilla Petroglyphs Information:
http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/prog/recreation/taos/la_cieneguilla.html
http://galisteo.nmarchaeology.org/sites/la-cieneguilla-petroglyphs.html
From the parking lot, you walk a relatively flat way for a short time and then head up to the top of the mesa. This part of the trail is somewhat steep but not very long. Once on the mesa, you walk a short way over to and along the escarpment and then head down to see the petroglyphs. The “trail” that goes by the petroglyphs is hardly a trail. There is a lot of scrambling over and around rocks. The ASC hiking group site warns that you must have pretty good balance. (“Cautions Do not go on this hike if you have balance problems, as the area where the petroglyphs are is steep and rocky.”) The glyphs themselves are pretty spectacular and stretch along the rocks for quite a while. After seeing them, you maneuver slowly down the rocky slope and then head back on flat land to the parking lot. Round trip: 1.5 miles.
