Martinez Canyon Petroglyphs

Rating: 
Round Trip Distance: 0.42 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation: 6284 - 6385 feet
Cellphone: 0-3 bars
Time: 45 mins.
Trailhead: 36.57649, -107.45513
Fee: none
Attractions: petroglyphs

The Martinez Canyon Petroglyphs are located in the Carrizo Canyon Area southeast of Bloomfield, New Mexico. The site consists of one large panel of petroglyphs that includes multiple bird images.

From County Road 492 the petroglyphs can be seen on the cliff across the wash that runs down the canyon. For turn-by-turn directions to a good place to park and begin hiking enter 36.57649, -107.45513 into your driving app. The location is 4 tenths of a mile past where we parked for the Red Shaman Panel.

After cutting across the sagebrush flat there is an easy place to cross the deep wash.

After crossing the wash there is an easy to follow trail heading toward the petroglyphs. In a few hundred feet you will be able to see the petroglyphs above the wash on the cliff. Continue past them a little to where there is a pretty easy route that you can scramble up. It's much easier to get up to the petroglyphs than what this photo makes it appear.

It's hard to get good photos from right below the panel. Rather than climb on up to that level where with our camera we would have been too close we stepped back a little and used our zoom lens.

On the left side of the panel are what are probably a couple of eagles, a crane, maybe a couple of dogs or mountain lions, and multiple deer.

Some close ups of a few of the images.

This looks like a man and a mountain lion but what the interaction between them is supposed to be we don't know.

The land on both sides of the road through the lower part of Martinez Canyon is BLM but there aren't any places where you could camp. Where the road climbs out of Martinez Canyon is private property and is posted no camping or hunting. Some sections of Carrizo Canyon are also private property but it's difficult to find a camp site even on the public land. We ended up camping about 6 miles away.

As far as the Martinez Canyon Petroglyphs go, if you would like to see them for yourself then all you have to do is 'Take a hike'.