El Morro Trails
EL MORRO NATIONAL MONUMENT, NEW MEXICO
PRICE: 50 CENTS IF YOU TAKE THIS BOOKLET HOME
Inscription Rock, El Morro National Monument
Introduction
In the year 1540, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado came up fromMexico with some 350 Spanish soldiers and crossed southeasternArizona to Zuñi, a pueblo 30 miles west of El Morro. Breaking up intoseveral groups, they went eastward 70 miles to Acoma Pueblo andthence to the Rio Grande. At least one of the groups probably passedEl Morro enroute.
The first known historical mention of El Morro is found in the journalof Diego Pérez de Luxán, chronicler of the Espejo expedition of1583. Luxán stopped here for water on March 11 of that year.
For some 300 years, hundreds of Spanish soldiers and priests,enroute between Santa Fe and Zuñi, and the Hopi villages farthernorth, passed El Morro. Many left names and notations aboutthemselves carved into the soft sandstone.
After 1849, American soldiers, emigrants, freighters, and adventurerscamped here because of the never-failing waterhole. In 1906, ElMorro was set aside as a National Monument and additional namecarving was prohibited.
The name “El Morro” simply means “the headland” or “the bluff,”and refers to the appearance of this mesa-point from a distance.
KEEP AMERICA BEAUTIFUL
El Morro Trails
INSCRIPTION ROCK TRAIL
The trail begins directly behind the Monument headquarters, andclimbs gradually toward the rock. Just follow the arrows and do nothurry. It is 7,200 feet above sea level here, and the altitude maybother some of you. The hike past the inscriptions and back to the officenormally takes from 30 to 40 minutes.
After viewing the inscriptions, you may, if you wish, continue upover the top of the rock and visit two large prehistoric Indian ruins.This extra hike will take you another 1 to 1½ hours.
Starting near the base of the mesa the trail has been marked withnumbered stations which match the numbered paragraphs in thisbooklet. Read and enjoy yourself as you walk.
No one has ever been bitten here, but watch along the path forrattlesnakes.
Please leave the Monument as neat as you found it.
1.
If you look closely at the rock, about 12 feet above the ground,you will see some notches cut into the sandstone. These are footholds.Probably most Indians came to the pool by the long, safe way, butothers, caring more for their thirst than their lives, came down fromthe mesa top through the high notch to the right and above you.
Do not, under any circumstances, try coming down this short way—the rock is extremely slippery. If you go to the top, stay on the marked trail.
2.
Now you see why travelers stopped here. There is no spring; thepool is fed largely by rain falling in July, August, and September, andby melting snow