Entry No. 6 — the Santa Fe file — filed under: petroglyphs

La Cieneguilla Petroglyph Site

A basalt escarpment above the Santa Fe River is covered in hundreds of petroglyphs pecked by Ancestral Puebloan people between the 1300s and 1600s — hump-backed flute players, birds, shields — right along the old Camino Real de Tierra Adentro trade route, with no gate, fee, or visitor center in sight.

The move: Walk the roughly 1-mile loop trail out of the gravel BLM lot at golden hour, hunt the escarpment for flute-player and bird figures, then sit where the Camino Real once crossed the mesa and watch the light change over the Santa Fe River valley.

• 📍 La Cienega, west of Santa Fe
• 💸 Free
• ⚡ Up for anything
• 🌗 Outdoors

Where: La Cieneguilla Petroglyphs BLM trailhead, Paseo Real (Airport Road becomes Paseo Real west of NM 599), Santa Fe, NM 87507

Hours: Added 2026-07-20 — confirm current hours before you go.

Plan a visit & invite your people →

Further reading: blm.gov · recreation.gov

last checked: 2026-07-20