Prehistoric Trackways National Monument

Rating: 
Round Trip Distance: 2.9 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Elevation: 3981 - 4483 feet
Cellphone: 0-3 bars
Time: 2 hrs.
Trailhead: Ridgeline
Fee: none
Attractions: Paleozoic trackways & fossils

The Prehistoric Trackways National Monument, near Las Cruces, New Mexico, was established in 2009 to protect and conserve the Paleozoic Era fossilized footprint mega trackways that are found in the area. Dating back 280 million years the deposits include trackways of amphibians, reptiles and insects as well as fossilized plants and petrified wood that predate the time of the dinosaurs. Due to the easiness with which many of the tracks could be removed by vandals and collectors most of them have been taken to the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science.

Clayton Lake Dinosaur Tracks

Rating: 
Round Trip Distance: 1 mile
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation: 5151 - 5185 feet
Cellphone: 0-3 bars
Time: 1 hr.
Trailhead: Clayton Lake State Park
Fee: $5/vehicle
Attractions: Dinosaur tracks

Located in the Clayton Lake State Park, near Clayton, New Mexico, is a Dinosaur Trackway Site consisting of more than 500 individual tracks from at least four different types of both plant-eating and meat-eating dinosaurs that were left along the sandy shores of an ancient seaway more than 100 million years ago. The tracks were exposed after the construction of the dam and operation of the spillway for Clayton Lake. While the dam was constructed in 1955 it wasn't until the lake overflowed into the spillway in 1982 that the last few inches of cover were washed away and the tracks were finally revealed.

Three Rivers Village

Rating: 
Round Trip Distance: 0.4 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation: 5000 - 5016 feet
Cellphone: 0-3 bars
Time: 30 mins.
Trailhead: Three Rivers Campground
Fee: $5/vehicle - $7/camping
Attractions: Jornada Mogollon Village

Located near the Three Rivers Petroglyph site is an ancient Jornada Mogollon (hor-nah-dah mo-go-yone) village consisting mostly of pithouses. The village was built over 1,000 years ago when the people became farmers planting mostly corn, beans and squash. A few of the buildings at the end of the short trail have been partially reconstructed to give visitors an insight to how the people lived.

Three Rivers Petroglyphs

Rating: 
Round Trip Distance: 1.2 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Elevation: 4996 - 5111 feet
Cellphone: 0-3 bars
Time: 1 hr. 30 mins.
Trailhead: Visitor Center
Fee: $5/vehicle
Attractions: Jornada Mogollon petroglyphs

The Three Rivers Petroglyph Site is located between Tularosa and Carrizozo, New Mexico. Found at the site are approximately 21,400 petroglyphs that were etched onto basalt boulders by the Jornada Mogollon (hor-nah-dah moh-gee-own) people that lived in the Tularosa Basin between 200 AD to 1350 AD. The Jornada Mogollon were farmers that made fine pottery and hunted game animals with bows and arrows.