Three low hills of syenite — magma that cooled underground about 34 million years ago and was later exposed — hold natural rock basins that trap rainwater in the desert. Those basins, the huecos, made this a reliable water source in country with almost none, and people have stopped here for at least 10,000 years. The site holds several thousand pictographs, including the largest concentration of painted masks in North America, left mainly by the Jornada Mogollon between roughly 450 and 1400 CE.
Getting there
31.9230, -106.0430
Locations are approximate and may be inaccurate, on private land, or otherwise inaccessible. Check before you travel.
Hear it from the road
Whistlestop tells you this story automatically when you drive past. No searching, no tapping, nothing to ask.
