About 30 miles southwest of Ramah, El Morro (meaning the headland or promontory) is a 200-foot sandstone bluff bearing nearly 2,000 years of human inscription. Ancient Ancestral Puebloan petroglyphs share the rock with Spanish colonial carvings from the 1600s and 1700s and Anglo-American names from the 19th century. Together they form an extraordinary palimpsest — every traveller who stopped here at the reliable pool of water at the base of the rock left their mark.
The 2-mile loop trail climbs to the top of the mesa and passes a partially excavated Ancestral Puebloan village with around 875 rooms, occupied roughly from 1275 to 1350 CE. The views from the top extend across the high desert to the Zuni Mountains. The monument is managed by the National Park Service; there is a modest entrance fee. The visitor centre has a good introduction to the inscription history.