Visitor Information Center
Address: 6510 Western Trail NW, Albuquerque, NM 87120
Along a 17-mile volcanic escarpment on Albuquerque's West Mesa, Ancestral Puebloans and Spanish settlers pecked more than 20,000 petroglyphs into the basalt between about 1300 and the 1700s, spirals, animals, and spirit figures still sacred to Pueblo people. A chain of dormant volcanoes crowns the mesa.
Walk the easy Boca Negra Canyon trail right among the carvings; young kids can earn a Junior Ranger badge. For a challenge, climb the volcanic cones for the panorama or hike the longer Rinconada Canyon loop.
Coordinates: 35.13850, -106.71080