Prehistoric Trackways National Monument

October 2, 2024:   Community Pit #1 adjacent to the Prehistoric Trackways National Monument is closed for a safety Reclamation Project. As we move into Phase Two of the project, the roads and trails surrounding the community pit project area may have periodic limitations on access as remediation and reclamation occurs upslope. For more information see the Las Cruces District Office Facebook Page.

The Prehistoric Trackways National Monument was established in 2009 to conserve, protect, and enhance the unique and nationally-important paleontological, scientific, educational, scenic, and recreational resources and values of the Robledo Mountains in southern New Mexico. The Monument includes a major deposit of Paleozoic Era fossilized footprint megatrackways within approximately 5,280 acres.

The trackways contain footprints of numerous amphibians, reptiles, and insects (including previously unknown species), plants, and petrified wood dating back 280 million years, which collectively provide new opportunities to understand animal behaviors and environments from a time predating dinosaurs. The site contains one of the most scientifically-significant Early Permian track sites in the world.

There are opportunities for hiking, horseback riding, and off highway vehicle driving in portions of the monument. However, viewing Trackway fossils is limited. At this time, there are no developed sites interpreting the fossils. To preserve them for ongoing and future scientific study, some trackway fossils have been removed and transported to the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, making up the Jerry MacDonald Paleozoic Trackways Collection. Anyone interested in viewing these fascinating tracks can do so by visiting the Museum, which offers public tours of their Geoscience Collection, including the Trackways Collection, by reservation. The Las Cruces Museum of Nature and Science also has a 30 foot and a 15 foot trackway on display.