© mike connealy

Broad Canyon Broad Canyon snakes a dozen miles out of the Sierra de Las Uvas down to the Rio Grande Valley. For much of the way, it lives up to its name as a wide, sandy arroyo bordered by rounded hills. In a few places, though, it narrows to rocky gorges with floors and walls polished by flash floods fed into the canyon from the mountain slopes. Petroglyphs mark the sites of natural rock water basins and springs in the gorges and side canyons. rock art index page

In the canyon's upper reaches there are old, twisted live oaks and junipers, some of which may have been standing when the petroglyphs were carved into the towering canyon walls. Debris piled against boulders and tree trunks speaks of torrential floods, but on a sunny mid-January day the canyon is warm and Spring-like. A few pink vervain bloom in the sand and a shiny black phainopepla flits from bush to bush flashing white wing patches. In the silence of the canyon bottom a kicked stone or a handclap sends back an echo as sharp as a gunshot. rock art index page

Apache and Jornada petroglyphs are not far distant in the canyon, but may be separated by centuries in time.     Horses and riders seen elsewhere are not depicted in this group. Perhaps these Apache images are pre-contact. They are very fragile due to the layered rock surfaces the artists chose to use. rock art index page

This narrow spot in the upper canyon contains a large concentration of finely crafted petroglyphs with unusual designs. rock art index page

I walked right by these lower canyon petroglyphs many times before Margaret noticed them one morning and pointed them out to me. rock art index page

Besides its richness in natural resources, Broad Canyon provided an easily traversed passage through the Sierra de Las Uvas, connecting the Rio Grande Valley to the broad swath of grasslands that extended far to the west. rock art index page