KEEP AMERICA BEAUTIFUL
El Morro Trails
INSCRIPTION ROCK TRAIL
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.
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, but others, caring more for their thirst than their lives, came down from the mesa top through the high notch to the right and above you.