Signal Hill Petroglyphs

Signal Hill is a small rocky knob in the western unit of Saguaro National Park, reached by a quarter-mile walk uphill from the Bajada Loop. The boulders are covered with hundreds of Hohokam petroglyphs — spirals, abstract patterns, animals, and the largest concentration of rock art inside the park.

The view from the top sweeps across the saguaro forest to the Tucson Mountains. Stay on the rocks and respect the petroglyphs — every year visitors damage them by carving their own. Best at sunrise or late afternoon for the light.

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A story
The petroglyphs were pecked into the dark basalt boulders by the Hohokam people between roughly 550 and 1550 AD. The largest spiral on the hill is over a metre across; on the spring equinox a shaft of sunlight passes through a crack and bisects it precisely — likely a deliberate solar marker.

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