New Mexico Road Trip - Three Rivers Petroglyphs and White Sands National Park (Day 4)

Enjoy leaving footprints at White Sands National Monument. They won’t last long in this ever-shifting ecosystem.

UPDATED: 2/5/2023

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We really loved searching for petroglyphs at the Three Rivers Petroglyph site.

Day 4: Three Rivers Petroglyphs and White Sands National Park

After our first of three nights in Cloudcroft (see prior post), sitting in Lincoln National Forest at 8,600 feet in elevation, we looked forward to a fun day ahead, exploring several sites on the western side of the mountains. We angled the nose of our car down and descended into the desert. Here is a map of our route for the day:

three rivers petroglyph site

We have both had multiple opportunities as children and adults to view various petroglyphs around the United States and still find them fascinating and mesmerizing. For those less familiar, a petroglyph is a general term for any (human-made) rock carving, typically noteworthy for those from the pre-historic era. Petroglyphs, often referred to as “carvings” outside of the United States, were often made by using a chisel and hammerstone (or similar objects) to carve away the surface of the rock-face, leaving behind the lighter-colored rock underneath, thus illuminating the image.

Over 21,000 petroglyphs and other forms of rock art have been discovered in the Three Rivers Valley area, and the petroglyphs themselves have been dated to 900 to 1400 CE. While there are certainly far older petroglyphs in the country, the Three Rivers area is noteworthy for the extensive amount in such a small area.

Follow the path up and around the hilltop, and keep your eyes open for petroglyphs along the way.

who are the people behind the petroglyphs at three rivers?

The Jornada Mogollon, a subset of the broader Mogollon culture, are responsible for the petroglyphs in this area. The Mogollon culture flourished from the archaic period up through the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century. They lived in the Southwestern portion of today’s United States. The name Mogollon was foisted upon them by an archaeologist in 1936, the name coming from a mountain range, which in turn was named for a Spanish governor in the area in the early 1700s. So, needless to say, Mogollon is not a word that this group of people would ever have used for themselves.

The subset of this culture, known to archaeologists as Jornada Mogollon, originally lived in pithouses and operated as farmers in the Southwest. Pithouses were carved out of the ground and then framed with wood. Eventually they innovated and began creating adobe structures. There are a number of sites throughout the Tularosa basin that are tied to this population. It is safe to say that farming and thriving in a desert was not an easy life. Eventually it became necessary for the population to move, likely due to drought or crop issues, and they moved out of the Tularosa basin.

From the top of the hill, you can look out over the valley below.

what to do at the three rivers petroglyph site

Three Rivers Petroglyph Site*, operated by the Bureau of Land Management, provides a great opportunity for visitors to closely view many petroglyphs! After entering the area (which has a small entrance fee), visitors have two main activity options. We did and recommend both.

The rocky hill that holds most of the petroglyphs rises up out of a fairly flat portion of the Tularosa basin. Desert shrubs stretch out in all directions until you get to the rugged mountains of the Lincoln National Forest to the east. It was fairly windy on the day we visited, and I believe it is fairly common to have a lot of wind in this basin.

Even if you don’t care for petroglyphs (what’s wrong with you?) the views from this short hike makes it worth your time.

A half mile hike scales a rocky hill, dotted with petroglyphs strewn among less-artistic boulders. During our visit, we were able to pick up a brochure that identified and provided more details on many of the petroglyphs. While the hike isn’t hard, it is rocky and requires sturdy shoes (and ankles). As with any desert hiking, it is important to be aware of snakes and other potential wildlife. We didn’t see any, which means they weren’t there or we just weren’t really paying close attention!

Be sure to pick up the brochure provided at the site. It really helps as each petroglyph sits unmarked in its original and undisturbed location.

There is also a second short trail that circumnavigates the foundations of three prehistoric buildings belonging to the Mogollons. It is very likely that this is where the originators of the petroglyphs lived.

Having both the abode and the rock art in one place made this visit particularly interesting for us. We find ourselves trying to imagine what life was like for earlier inhabitants, but often sites only leave one piece of the puzzle, a particular remnant of earlier times. In this case, seeing where people lived and the art they left behind added a second piece to the puzzle. Of course one of the biggest questions about petroglyphs asks what they meant to their creators, and that is a question that many have attempted to answer. Absent a time machine, this never will be answerable in a complete or provable way. But, you can stand next to where people lived who knew the answer to this question, and that’s about as good as you can get.

While some petroglyphs are recognizable, others are more difficult to understand.

Faces and other human and animal depictions are common.

lunch at casa de suenos

After some good outdoor hiking, we were famished and wanted to fill up before heading to the more isolated White Sands National Park and happened upon Casa de Suenos* in nearby Tularosa. The restaurant was only about 20 minutes south of the Three Rivers Petroglyphs Site and is located right on the main thoroughfare, making it easy to locate.

Our meals were absolutely amazing. Among the four of us, we tried several different dishes, and we all absolutely loved them. We actually returned to this restaurant the following day - driving out of our way to do so - if that underscores how tasty this was. Next time we are in the area - anywhere remotely within the area - we will definitely swing by again!

After dining, we returned to the car and headed towards the day’s main attraction: White Sands!

White sand dunes as far as the eye can see. It is hard to describe how amazing it feels to be surrounded by this landscape.

white sands national park - painting the picture

Whether you have or have not visited a desert, when I say picture a desert, you likely conjure up an image of dunes comprised of countless grains of sand. These hills rise and fall in every direction, and they are constantly shifting as wind sends granules streaking from one hill to another or falling into nothingness where a dune used to stand. The sky above is expansive and blue, maybe dotted with a cloud. Looking out across the dunes, it is easy to see how a desert and an ocean - polar opposites in many regards - are actually similar.

The sand in this image is probably a dusty yellow or, depending on the time of the day, perhaps ruddier. Now, make that sand stark white, an even more shocking color against the bright blue sky. Dot it with the occasional shrub or yucca plant to ground the sand in a particular place. That place is very real, and it is White Sands National Park, which has to be the most amazing, underappreciated spot in the United States, if you ask me.

The vistas at White Sands were so otherworldly that it is hard to describe. Standing atop one of the dunes, only seeing other dunes endlessly in every direction was exhilarating. It was easy to forget - and I wanted to forget - that our car was just over one of them within a safe distance.

white sands national park - a brief lesson in minerals and geology

If you peel back the wonder of White Sands National Park, you will find yourself left with gypsum - 275 square miles of it to be exact. This is the largest amount of gypsum, rarely found in sand form, in the world. Familiar with plaster of Paris? That’s gypsum in a more familiar form.

Gypsum is also an evaporate mineral, meaning that under certain conditions it will dissolve in water and then recrystallize when the water evaporates (like salt). It is that process that has created the White Sands.

Grasses cling to life amidst the shifting sand.

The short version of the geological history of the area goes something like this: 280 to 250 million years ago, a gypsum deposit collected on the floor of the seabed during the era of Pangaea. Tectonic movement shifted the land around and ultimately created what is today’s Tularosa Basin, which filled with an ancient lake, Lake Otero, by about 30 million years ago. In the formation of this lake, that original deposit of gypsum settled in, and eventually at the end of the last Ice Age, the water in Lake Otero evaporated. As the water evaporated, the area morphed into the Chihuahuan desert, and the small amount of water that remained became modern Lake Lucero. The strong winds in the area took the crystals of dried gypsum, broke them down into smaller pieces, and polished them (amazing what wind can do!). These same winds pushed the remaining sand grains into dunes and voila! But nothing is permanent, and current disruptions to climate have the risk to eventually blow away the sand that has built these beautiful dunes.

An ever-present wind constantly reshapes the dunes.

The trails through the dunes are marked with tall poles. Never lose sight of the trail markers. Unfortunately, people who get lost here do not always have good outcomes.

white sands national park - what to do

Interdune Boardwalk is a 0.4 mile round-trip boardwalk hike that is fully accessible for wheelchairs. It is also a great way to familiarize yourself with the plants and features abundant within White Sands. This is a great first stop (after the visitor’s center).

Dunes Drive is a 16-mile round-trip drive that meanders through the dunes with plenty of places where you can pull off, park your car and start climbing the dunes. Because of the nature of the dunes, you can quickly hide the route, and immediately feel like you are in the middle of the wilderness. The route takes about 45 minutes at a minimum, or it can take as long as you want it to with stops along the way. We spent hours on it ourselves and enjoyed photographing the dunes, wandering, and just standing in awe. Sledding is a popular activity on the dunes since they operate like snow-covered hills. Though we didn’t partake, we saw lots of others doing so. For more information on sledding, check out this section on this park’s website.

In addition to wandering on the dunes off of Dunes Drive, there are several hikes that range in length from half a mile to 5 miles. We hiked the Playa Trail, which is half a mile. You can check out more detailed descriptions of the hikes here.

Check out the current Ranger Programs. We went on the Sunset Stroll hike with a ranger. The hike began about an hour before sundown and took us out over the desert as the sunlight faded and shifted the white sands to amazing shades of color - glittery yellows, pink and purples, and then blue. It was also a great way to learn more about the wildlife and plants of the desert from a very knowledgeable ranger. There are other hikes that would be cool - like the full moon hike and others - though of course some of this will depend upon the timing of your visit. Check out the latest ranger programs here.

Is this Earth, or have we terraformed the moon?

white sands national park - what to expect and tips for your visit

Stay for sunset: This would be our top tip! Even if you choose not to take the ranger-led Sunset Stroll, it is absolutely worth watching the sun slip across the horizon and behind the nearby mountains, but ignore the sun and watch the changing colors of the sand. You’ll find an entirely new way to see this amazing site.

When to visit: Fall may be the best time to visit White Sands, though we visited in the spring. The temperatures in the spring are good, but there is a greater likelihood that you’ll visit on a windy day. February through May are the dust storm months. In fact, the day after we visited White Sands was very windy, and we could see swirls of the dust from the sand in the sky as we headed off to our next destination. Summer can be dangerous due to heat and monsoon season (July through September). It is recommended that no one hike in White Sands when temperatures hit 85 degrees, and summer days can easily be 100.

Sunset at White Sands is a magical time of ever-shifting color hues.

Safety: I can’t underscore this enough, and there is plenty of information on the park’s website and at the park itself. It is very easy to get disoriented on sand dunes. Those taking hikes through the dunes should expect that some markers may be covered by sand, which can send hikers off in the wrong direction. With no shade from the sun, visitors can quickly get heat exhaustion and dehydrate. The white sand itself reflects sunlight back up, meaning that it feels even hotter than it is, and sunburns came easily. I have seen at least three reports of people or families who have perished at White Sands since our visit in 2015. (This typically occurs on the 5 mile hike. If you’re wandering a short distance from your car, you’ll be fine as long as you stay aware of your surroundings.) It is easy to underestimate the conditions here, and cell service is spotty so hikers can find themselves stranded.

Missile Testing and Road Closures: There are several military facilities nearby that conduct periodic missile tests. When this occurs, the car route within White Sands may be closed for a period of time, as may the main road to White Sands. Just check in advance of your visit to ensure you can access the site. You can check out the latest closures here.