Tome Hill

Tome Hill is a volcanic hill which rises almost 400+ feet above the Rio Grande Valley in Valencia County about 7 miles from my home. As a natural sentinel point it has a long history as a religiously significant landmark.


Located on the Camino Real or "Royal Road", Tome Hill was a way marker and at one time was supposedly the south border of Isleta Pueblo. There are a couple of interpretive signs near the south end of the hill next to a sculpture depicting early visitors to the site.


We accessed the hill from the south parking lot which is far more steep and shorter than the trail head at the west.


Supposedly nine anthropological sites have been discovered and cataloged by the University of New Mexico on Tome Hill and over 1,800 petroglyphs. However, hiking with my little hiking buddy kept us focused on the steep trails and leaving glyphs to find on another occasion.


My little hiking buddy with an image...


An image of perhaps corn or an ancient utility pole?


Interlocking circles (I was quite impressed with the uniform shape of the circles)


They say one can see almost 50 miles up and down the valley. The view in the above picture is looking north. In person you can see the skyline of Albuquerque nearly 30 miles to the due North.


Throughout the year (and particularly on Good Friday) many people ascend and make the pilgrimage to the three crosses. (For more information on the pilgrimage click here).


Me and my hiking buddy.


I find it amazing that four-year-old's can find such joy making a gun from a stick and shooting at cows miles away.

It took me and my four-year-old hiking buddy about two hours to hike to the top, scramble on some boulders, pretend to shoot cows with sticks and make it down again. It's great to have a short hike with such an amazing view in our "back yard".

******January 2010 Update*****
Got to spend an afternoon exploring more of the hill and found some wonderful petroglyphs. Enjoy the slide show.