Prehistoric Trackways National Monument

January 10, 2024: Now through August, Community Pit #1 adjacent to the Prehistoric Trackways National Monument is closed for a safety Reclamation Project. Access to Prehistoric Trackways National Monument will be temporarily closed to the public during blasting activities. 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.