I had some free time on my 2nd morning in Santa Fe before meeting up with my aunt, and I wanted to get out and just enjoy the local scenery. I remembered from previous trips that there’s some great views of the moutains from the Museum Hill area, so I drove up there. I was too early to get into any of the museums, but with views like the one above, I was happy just to hang out and take it all in.
As I was walking around the courtyard between all of the museums, I noticed this banner below which has the name “Avanyu Trail” on it. I’ve been in this area before but don’t recall ever seeing this banner or knowing anything about the trail. Unfortunately, I wasn’t going to get to experience much of it, as there appeared to be some construction or at least significant landscaping being done as there was a chain link fence blocking advancement at the bottom of the first stretch of the path. So, since I can’t tell you from personal experience what the Avanyu Trail is, I can share a little info from some research.
The Avanyu Trail is a quarter-mile-long self-guided trail on Museum Hill that showcases how Native people adapted to and interacted with the Southwest environment. It features reconstructed traditional gardens and ancient architectural examples, with the hope of giving trail hikers an understanding of how Native peoples existed in this local area and how they utilized natural resources, such as adobe, brush, and earth. The name “Avanyu” refers to a horned or plumed serpent deity of the Tewa people, who is considered a protector of water and one who signals the approach of storms.
Of the 50 yards of available trail leading up to the fenced-off area there was one item of interest: this small piece of rock art was on the ground on the right side of the trail … I decided to get closer and pull back the grasses for a better look.
It’s not clear whether this is a modern piece of rock art, or whether it’s an actual artifact that has been placed here, but you can get a better look at it here below. When the drawing is etched or carved into stone in rock art, as it is here, it’s called a petroglyph. This petroglyph shows a horned animal, and a search for what types of animals are native to the area that this could be include a mule deer, a white-tailed deer, an elk, or a pronghorn antelope.
I’m sorry I don’t have more to share as far as experiencing the Avanyu Trail, but I do like the rock art and the views in the area, and perhaps I’ll try to hike the trail next time I’m in Santa Fe.