The main panel at the Dragonfly Site near Silver City, New Mexico, November 20th, 2016.

Thanksgiving 2016:  A Quick Trip to a Couple of New Mexico Classics

Prologue…

During the Fall of 2016 I was a full-time student at Texas State University, so my rock art travel was pretty limited.  But I was able to squeeze in a quick trip to New Mexico during the front end of the week I had off for Thanksgiving.  I had heard about two sites that I wanted to visit on this trip:  Dragonfly and Pony Hills.  Looking at the map, I decided that City of Rocks State Park (located about halfway between Deming and Silver City on State Highway 61) would be would be a suitable location to camp for a couple of nights while I visited these sites.  So I loaded up my truck and Kaku2 and headed out on Sunday, November 20, 2016.

City of Rocks…

The drive out was uneventful.  I took IH-10 to Deming, New Mexico.  Deming is not much of a town, but I always enjoy passing through there and usually make an effort to get off the interstate and at least stretch my legs or grab a bite to eat.  They have an interesting little museum (the Deming Luna Mimbres Museum) and some nice murals along the highway overpasses.  The museum has many items donated by locals and has an impressive collection of Mimbres pottery. 

A bowl at the museum in Deming. When you see a hole in the botton of a bowl, it indicates the bowl was recovered from a burial. The prehistoric peoples of this area thought that the hole allowed the spirit of the deceased to escape to the next world.
A portion of one of the many nice roadside murals in Deming, New Mexico.

From Deming I turned north on U.S. Highway 180 and headed to State Highway 61 where I turned east, on the last leg of my drive to City of Rocks State Park.  It was a beautiful fall afternoon as I arrived at the park.  

City of Rocks...what a fun place to camp!

I checked in at park headquarters and learned there were many campsites available–  I had pretty much had my choice.  While chatting with a Park Ranger, I also learned there was a little rock art in the park, and the general location of the art.  I selected a campsite, set up camp, and still had time to explore and search for the rock art the Park Rangers told me about.  

I had just backed into the campsite I selected when I took this photo.
I really enjoyed camping at City of Rocks. Here is a night photo of my camp.

With the daylight remaining, I was able to locate all of the rock art mentioned by the park rangers.  There are two Kokopelli figures in the park, one large and one small.  They are of questionable origins, but I was happy to find them.  (For a complete gallery of the photos of rock art I took at City of Rocks, look here.)

This kokopelli figure is almost 2 feet high and located high up on a boulder at City of Rocks.

Dragonfly and a Nice Walk in the Gila National Forest…

I was up early on the morning of Monday, November 21 and headed out in search of the Dragonfly petroglyph site.  The Dragonfly Trailhead (Dragonfly Loop Trail #720, Fort Bayard Trail System) is located about 3 miles east of Silver City on the north side of U S Highway 180.  It is an easy 2 mile hike down to the petroglyph site which is located on a rock bluff adjacent to a small creek.  I enjoyed spending the morning out there.  The weather was perfect and there was some fall color along the creek.  There are several nice panels of rock art at the site.  A photo of the main panel is the header for this post.  Below are a couple more photos from the site.  To see a full gallery of the photos I took at the Dragonfly site, look here. 

There are several dragonfly elements besides the one on the main panel. This is one of the ancillary dragonflys at the site.
This little panel is not far from the main panel and has several interesting elements.

After a nice morning at Dragonfly and lunch in Silver City, I headed south for some exploring near the Gila National Forest.  I had read somewhere that there was rock art on state land just east of the National Forest off of C Bar K Road.  I had no specifics beyond that, so drove out C Bar K road and picked what I considered the most likely area and began hiking.  I did not find any rock art, but over the course of my exploring, I did find a small ruin, a number of bedrock mortars, and numerous pottery sherds.  I am sure there is some rock art in the area, but this old man wasn’t able to find it!

This is typical of the terrain I explored off of C Bar K Road. Note the bedrock mortars in the foreground.
I found this small ruin, which I believe was a granary. There were also numerous cupules and grinding holes under overhang of the alcove.

Poking Around Pony Hills…

I left my camp at City of Rocks early on the morning of Tuesday, November 22, 2020, headed for the Pony Hills site.  Originally I had also planned to visit Frying Pan Canyon that same day, but I spent too much time exploring Fluorite Ridge and Pony Hills to make it over to Frying Pan.  I really enjoyed this site!  The petroglyphs are spread out over a fairly large area and I really enjoyed exploring and looking at the art.  In fact, I enjoyed it so much I visited the site again in April of 2018.  To see my blog post that includes my second visit to Pony Hills and my first visit to Frying Pan Canyon, look here.  To see my full Pony Hills gallery, look here. 

The road to Pony Hills is not bad as it heads to Starvation Draw and the Pony Hills Site. In this picture, Cooke's Peak is straight ahead.
The Pony Hills site is located on a hill near an earthen dam across Starvation Draw. Here you can see my truck near the dam. I took this photo from near the top of "Pony Hill".
There are some very interesting elements at Pony Hills. I call this one "TV Man".
This is part of a large panel located on a mostly buried boulder on top of the hill.

I ran across a blog that calls the element in the photograph below “The White Coyote” and theorizes that it is related to an astronomical event.  I have never heard that before, but I always enjoy running across different interpretations of the art.

The White Coyote?

Heading Home…

After a very full day of exploring Pony Hills, I spent one more night at City of Rocks before an uneventful trip home for Thanksgiving with family.  After a couple of days of strenuous hiking, I was a little sore so that last night of the trip I treated myself to a soak at Faywood Hot Springs.  I highly recommend it!  I also recommend the Dragonfly Site and Pony Hills if you ever find yourself in the Deming/Silver City area.  They are both very interesting petroglyph sites and I am grateful that I got to enjoy them!

My last night camping at City of Rocks was splendid!