20 March 2019 Prehistoric Trackways National Monument

Prehistoric Trackways NM is another BLM run national monument in the Rabledo Mountains north west of Las Cruces. There were no signs on the roads to point the way to the monument and the last half mile to the parking lot was a dirt road with a dry wash to cross. Luckily David had printed out a map. There was an entrance sign, a few exhibit signs and that was it. No visitor center, no rangers, no bathrooms, just a dirt parking lot. A dirt track continued past the parking lot and Leslie, who was driving, decided to do a little off road exploring, at least until it got a little difficult and she turned back (But she is getting better at it!). From one of the signs at the parking lot, it was clear there were only two hiking trails, only one of which was accessable without an ATV. All the rest of the trails were ATV trails of varing difficulty. 

Ridgeline trail was accessible from the parking lot and the map showed it went to the “Discovery Site” where they originally found the prehistoric mammal tracks (tracks are prior to the existance of dinasours in the early Permian period). But it did not show mileage or terrain. The website had even less information on the trails. Over 2500 slabs of rock with fossilized tracks were removed from the site in the 1980s and donated to the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. Unfortunately none of them are on display there. But the museum in Las Cruces has one on display.

We decided to hike to the “Discovery Site” to see what might have been left behind. As we started up the trail (being a mountain trail they all go up from the start) we came to a pretty steep grade and slugged up only to find another even steeper grade. The trail was very rocky and poorly maintained. David continued up the second steep grade only to find another steeper grade that looked like you might have to go up it on all four. A quick check of the satillite map on his phone showed there was more climbing beyond the third slope. He decided it was not worth the effort given the lack of information on what we would find at the Discovery Site. He later did more research on line and found that people who had made it to the site could not find any tracks or fossils. But the view out over the valley toward the Organ Mountains were great including the completely dry as a bone Rio Grande river bed (some natural barrier!). All the water is held back in reservoirs up stream given the current drought. 

 

Dry as a bone Rio Grande River bed

All in all, our impression of BLM run National Monuments is that they are poorly maintained, run down and under funded.