El Morro National Monument is a fascinating mixture of both human and natural history. The pool continues to attract wildlife in addition to the travelers who were drawn to it for hundreds of years. The massive sandstone bluff, formed largely by ancient sand dunes, is a geologic wonder in itself.



The softness of the sandstone made it easy for travelers to carve pictures, names, dates and messages. Ironically, that is also the reason that the famous inscriptions are slowly disappearing. This poses the ultimate challenge to the National Park Service mission of preserving the inscriptions in perpetuity while allowing natural processes to operate.