Those who lived in the mountains are referred to as the Mimbres Mogollon while desert dwellers such as those who lived here on the banks of Three Rivers Creek are called the Jornada Mogollon. The Mogollon lived in pithouse and adobe structures similar to their agricultural cousins the Anasazi, with whom they traded. And like the other prehistoric agiculturalists of the Southwest, by the time the Spanish entered New Mexico in the 1500s, the Mogollon pueblos had already mysteriously been abandoned. Residents of Three Rivers village are believed to have fled to pueblos in northern New Mexico, or to have resumed their ancestors' hunting and gathering lifestyle. At the parking lot, visitors find 6 shelters, picnic tables, barbecue pits, trash cans, drinking water and toilets.
Overnight camping is permitted.
The Three Rivers Petroglyph Site site is located 17 miles north of Tularosa, New Mexico and 28 miles south of Carrizozo, New Mexico on U.S. Highway 54. Turn east at three Rivers, onto County Road B30, and follow signs for 5 miles on the paved road.