El Morro Trails: El Morro National Monument, New Mexico

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Inscription Rock, El Morro National Monument
In the year 1540, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado came up from Mexico with some 350 Spanish soldiers and crossed southeastern Arizona to Zuñi, a pueblo 30 miles west of El Morro. Breaking up into several groups, they went eastward 70 miles to Acoma Pueblo and thence to the Rio Grande. At least one of the groups probably passed El Morro enroute.
The first known historical mention of El Morro is found in the journal of Diego Pérez de Luxán, chronicler of the Espejo expedition of 1583. 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 farther north, passed El Morro. Many left names and notations about themselves carved into the soft sandstone.
After 1849, American soldiers, emigrants, freighters, and adventurers camped here because of the never-failing waterhole. In 1906, El Morro was set aside as a National Monument and additional name carving 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
The trail begins directly behind the Monument headquarters, and climbs gradually toward the rock. Just follow the arrows and do not hurry . It is 7,200 feet above sea level here, and the altitude may bother some of you. The hike past the inscriptions and back to the office normally takes from 30 to 40 minutes.
After viewing the inscriptions, you may, if you wish, continue up over 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 with numbered stations which match the numbered paragraphs in this booklet. Read and enjoy yourself as you walk.
No one has ever been bitten here, but watch along the path for rattlesnakes.