El Morro National Monument

Headland Trail Restoration

National Monument
1906
 
Park Size
1,040 Acres
 
Annual Visitors
55,000
 
Park Fee
none
 
Superintendent
Kelly Fuhrmann
 
Park Partner
​none

Location
Cibola County, NM

In the desert, it is said, water is gold. A reliable water source hidden at the base of a large sandstone bluff has brought thirsty travelers to the area for hundreds of years, as evidenced by ancestral Puebloan structures and petroglyphs, and over 2,000 signatures and messages from early Spanish and American travelers. El Morro National Monument protects these historic and cultural treasures, as well as an array of geological and ecological resources.

The Fund for People in Parks provided a grant to support the restoration of the two-mile Headland Trail, which was originally constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. Subsequent work on the trail left it with an asphalt surface that was neither aesthetically pleasing nor historically accurate, and the park has been incrementally replacing the trail with new surfacing and rock borders as piecemeal funding becomes available. Work is ongoing and done primarily by the Ancestral Lands Conservation Corps with trail crew members from the neighboring Zuni and Acoma Pueblos.

This grant expedited the park's ability to complete the project so that all visitors can have a safer and more pleasing experience on trail, while also protecting natural resources at the park.
 
Project Cost: $50,000                                                                  Project Completed: 2021
     The Fund for People in Parks: $25,000
     National Park Service Challenge Cost Share Grant: $25,000

'Watch your fingers.' 'Here, let me get this side.' 'Everyone get ready.' It is an early autumn afternoon in New Mexico.  Voices of Navajo and Zuni crew members ring out over El Morro's Headland Trail as they work together with NPS preservation staff on the rehabilitation of the historic trail.  Since 2018, several groups employed by the Ancestral Lands Conservation Corps (ALCC) have removed and replaced..." [read more]