Round Trip Distance: 0.9 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Elevation: 6716 - 6772 feet
Cellphone: 0-3 bars
Time: 1 hr.
Trailhead: Wenima Wildlife Refuge
Fee: none
Attractions: petroglyphs
The Wenima Wildlife Refuge is just north of Springerville, Arizona. Besides the wildlife at the refuge there are two areas where you can find some petroglyphs and pueblo ruins. This post covers the petroglyphs that can be found on the cliffs along a ridge that is just north of the parking area.
To get there, drive north from Springerville on US-60 and just out of town go right onto US 180/191. In 1,600 feet turn right onto the Hooper Ranch Road which is signed for the Wildlife Area. Continue for about 1.5 miles to where the road drops down to the Little Colorado River. There is a parking area and restroom on the right.
This photo was taken looking northeast from the top of the hill at the boundary of the Wildlife Refuge. On the right you will notice the farming field with the white irrigation pipe running along the edge. Bordering the field there are some walnut trees and on the cliffs and boulders above the trees are where most of the petroglyphs are found. The red dot on the far left is all the way on top of the rim and from what we were told there is a solstice marker.
We aren't sure what the mechanics of the solstice marker are but you will notice the small horizontal snakes and the longer one drawn perpendicular to them. The other images seem to derive some sort of meaning from the hole in the boulder. These are the only images that we could find along the rim where we were told the solstice marker was located so we are gathering from that that we actually found that for which we were looking.
At a low spot in the ridge just before the solstice marker you might notice a stacked rock wall that may or may not be prehistoric. It may have been put there as a fence for cattle or sheep. We did find some potsherds in the area so maybe the wall is of ancient construction. If you follow the rim of the canyon with your eyes you should be able to spot our pickup off in the distance and get an idea of the route that we followed to the solstice marker.
For others wanting to visit the site we would suggest following the very easy route around the field to the walnut trees where you should be able to see some of the petroglyphs from below and locate one of the routes that others have been following to get up to them.
Under an overhang there are what looks like some stained pictographs of a row of anthropomorphic images. We doubted that that was what they were when looking at them through a pair of binoculars so we never went all the way up to them. After enlarging the photo on our computer they look more genuine.
Many of the petroglyphs are still looking good and might remain that way for quite some time if people can refrain from touching them.
Some of the images are very common or traditional looking as those found at many other sites.
Here are another pair of commonly seen images.
This boulder has quite a few images which includes a single square spiral and a row of connected square spirals that are similar.
In this row of similar images it is noticeable that each of the patterns is different in its center. On the left the winding has a slight gap, the next has a completely closed winding, and the next two are different yet. Another way of looking at it is that the first winding is pointing up, or maybe north, the second appears closed, the third is pointing down, or maybe south, and the last is pointing left, or maybe west. So, maybe the cardinal directions are represented here or maybe something like the four elements of earth, water, fire, and air.
There are quite a few more petroglyphs that have suffered much more wear and are less discernible.
