Petroglyphs

Caborca Petroglyphs at Rancho Puerto Blanco

Amazing Rock Art and History

One of Caborca’s more popular and interesting attractions is the petroglyphs that were etched in stone by ancient inhabitants thousands of years ago.

The region where Caborca is located has been inhabited by ancient native cultures that had fairly advanced civilizations covering geographical areas from south of here to parts of what is now Arizona.

The Mogollon peoples inhabited the area from approximately 600 B.C. to 1400 A.D. Other native inhabitants included the  Azasazi (100 B.C. to 1450 A.D.) and the Hohokam (300 B.C. to 1400 A.D.).

While there are many sites with petroglyphs in northern Sonora and southern Arizona, one place in particular has thousands of petroglyphs on expansive pristine Sonoran desert ranch land – the private tourist ranch Rancho Puerto Blanco, just outside of Caborca.

Rancho Puerto Blanco has two main hills that are filled with the fascinating rock art – La Proveedora and San Jose. Both hills have thousands of stone carvings – there are more than 6,000 etchings on the ranch, the greatest concentration of petroglyphs in Latin America.

Visiting the petroglyphs can be an all-ages hiking activity for those fit enough to do some minor hill climbing. And you don’t need to be able to climb hills to take pictures, much of the rock art is accessible for viewing and photo-taking without having to do any climbing or strenuous activity.

 Rancho Puerto Blanco Website