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Find out which New Mexico national monument is celebrating 35 years
Jun. 25—Looking back down the trail and forward, the Petroglyph National Monument is celebrating 35 years as a national monument under the National Park Service.
The monument will be celebrating from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, June 28. From 8-10 a.m. Sunday, June 29, the monument is holding an anniversary hike.
The goal, besides honoring the milestone, is to remind the public that the site is there for the people, according to Nancy Hendricks, the superintendent of Petroglyph National Monument.
"We want to remind people that we are a National Park Service site co-managed by the city of Albuquerque that's here for people of current and future generations, people of New Mexico, the Southwest and around the world," Hendricks said.
Hitting 35 years is a significant accomplishment for Petroglyph, and it plans to keep going for 35 more years and beyond, while growing with new trails.
The trails are the highlight for Hendricks and one of her favorite parts of the area, especially those that lead visitors deeper in the wilderness and away from the sights and sounds of Albuquerque.
"You just feel like you're in the middle of a wild place, and you feel like you've gone back into time, and are experiencing the place as the early people who came here experienced it," Hendricks said.
Susanna Villanueva, the lead for interpretation, education and partnerships at Petroglyph, has seen the volunteers at the monument grow, which has been a standout moment over her time at Petroglyph.
"When I first started here in 1999, we had one volunteer position, which was helping at the visitor center, and we probably had 10, maybe 12, volunteers at that time," Villanueva said. "And now in 2025 we have four different volunteer positions and different duties and type of opportunities available to them, and we have over 70 volunteers."
Villanueva helped plan the celebration and said it will include performances by Marlon Magdalena, Spanish Broom Flamenco Dance, Black Eagle Dance Group and more.
"There's so many people that haven't been to Petroglyph or haven't been out in a while, and this is a really great opportunity for them to come back and visit the monument," Hendricks said, "whether they come to the event or just take the morning and do one of our wonderful hikes in the monument."
In the next 35 years, Villanueva hopes the monument will still stand as a place for people to escape to nature and away from the city.
"COVID taught us a lot about ourselves and about our human nature and our want and almost our need for humans to be out in nature. It's healing for a lot of people." Villanueva said.
"So in the next 35 years, I hope that this monument is still able to provide those outdoor healing experiences that a lot of people come out here looking for."
