Round Trip Distance: 0.6 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation: 5938 - 5982 feet
Cellphone: 0-3 bars
Time: 1 hr.
Trailhead turnoff: 36.77130, -107.62215
Fee: none
Attractions: petroglyphs
Gobernador Wash is located near Navajo City, New Mexico. Within a short stretch of the wash we were able to discover a handful of interesting panels of petroglyphs. We marked five of them on our map.
Driving apps seem to be unaware of the Gobernador Wash Road so for turn-by-turn directions enter 36.77130, -107.62215 into your driving app which are the coordinates for the turnoff. From US 64 you will be directed north on the Navajo Dam Road, CO 539, for 2.2 miles to the turnoff where you will go to the left. Measuring from the turnoff it is about 1.1 miles to the spot in this photo where you can park out of the way next to a gas riser.
After parking follow the old pipeline road toward the cliffs on the opposite side of the wash where the pipelines come out of the ground to go up the cliffs.
The first panel that we marked is hidden away behind some trees. It looks like some anthros connected by a long line.
At the next stop there is an even larger panel of anthros. We were able to spot this panel with our binoculars from the road.
I'm not sure whether this figure has hair whorls, ear loops, or large dangly earrings.
Often when the arms are pointing downward the figure is meant to represent an ancestor.
How they would be able to tell who each figure represented with no more identifying marks is a mystery as all the figures look so similar.
A few old inscriptions which are very common in the area are also present.
This photo is zoomed out to show a long line of prints going up the cliff.
Off to the right of the prints are these images. The smaller image is a perfect looking horse or burro head.
There are a few more images along the cliffs like this concentric circle that are pretty faint for which we didn't set any waypoints.
There should be more areas with petroglyphs further into Gobernador Canyon and even up Escarbada Canyon. Be aware that once you get deeper into both of those canyons you will eventually run into some private property.
If you would like to see the Gobernador Wash Petroglyphs for yourself then all you have to do is 'Take a hike'.
If you would like to see the Gobernador Wash Petroglyphs for yourself then all you have to do is 'Take a hike'.
