Rocky Point

Rating: 
Round Trip Distance: 0.2 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Elevation: 517 - 590 feet
Cellphone: 0-3 bars
Time: 45 mins.
Trailhead: Rocky Point 33.02830, -113.11882
Fee: none
Attractions: petroglyphs, pueblo

Rocky Point is located along the Gila River about 34 miles west of Gila Bend, Arizona. Found at the site are a number of petroglyphs on basalt boulders plus some pueblo ruins.

To get there from Gila Bend head west on I-8 for 12.8 miles and take Exit 102 for the Painted Rock Road. Follow the Painted Rock Road for about 10 miles and then continue straight onto the Rocky Point Road. At this point the Painted Rock Petroglyph Site and Campground will be down a short side road on the left. After another 4.7 miles the Rocky Point Road crosses the dry bed of the Gila River. There are 2 places here where you can turn right that both lead to Rocky Point which is the hill on the right after the road crosses the Gila River. For turn-by-turn directions you can enter 33.02830, -113.11882 into your driving app.

There is a fence around the site but when we made our visit there was a section of it that was laying flat on the ground making it easy to step over it.

A few petroglyphs can be found on miscellaneous rocks on the lower part of the hill. Most all of the petroglyphs are up near the top so without any obvious trail to follow you have to scramble up the slope by whatever route looks easiest.

Many of these petroglyphs are distinct enough that they can be seen from the bottom of the hill.

Interestingly almost all of the images are geometrical designs.

This panel has one image of a sheep in the lower left but other than that everything else are various shapes and patterns.

Some of these boulders are right up at the rim of the butte. We probably should have scrambled all the way to the top to see what was there but somehow we didn't do it.

This panel includes an image of a snake.

Down at the bottom of the hill there is a rubble pile that was maybe a wall plus the outline of several pueblo style rooms.

The petroglyphs at Rocky Point seem to have had a specific theme that was a little different from other sites in the area. It is missing the usual mixture of anthropomorphic images as well as images like concentric circles, spirals, and zoomorphs. The panels don't necessarily look like maps either although portions of them may have been. If you would like to see the site for yourself then all you have to do is 'Take a hike'.