Deer Valley Petroglyph Preserve

Starting May 6th, 2026, DVPP will be switching to our Summer Hours! We will be OPEN from Wednesday - Saturday, 8 a.m. - 2 p.m., and we will be CLOSED Sundays, Mondays, and Tuesdays. Tuesday, April 28th will be the last Tuesday we will be open until next year, so come visit us and enjoy the comfortably warm weather!

Also, we will be closed for June and July! So, if you've been wondering if you should visit the Preserve now or wait, make sure to drop by and pay us a visit before we close for the summer!

Visit our booth at Galaxy Steam Fest hosted by ! The event is from 11am-4pm, and you can not only chat with vendors like us, but you can also see fun presentations, interact with hands-on exhibits, and try some of the food at the food trucks!

Come say hello and enjoy the festival!

Join us TOMORROW (04/17) for our Seed Ball Workshop! We have done an incredible amount of work this year removing as much stinknet as possible, so now we are on a mission to bring more native plants and flowers to our trail. In order to do that, we will be making seed balls that we will throw on the trail when the time is right, and we need your help to make them!

We will be creating seed balls on the trail tomorrow from 9 a.m. - 11 a.m. No prior knowledge, skills, or tools required! Just bring yourself and your enthusiasm and we will teach you how to create seed balls! Seed balls are an incredible way to spread seeds because they protect the seeds from birds, rodents, and the harsh sun.

There's still time to sign-up! Click the link in our bio, sign up online so that we can provide enough supplies, and then we'll see you tomorrow at 9 a.m.!

UPDATE: Due to unforeseen circumstances, this event has been cancelled. Thank you for your understanding!

Join us this Friday (04/10) from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. to learn about archaeologist Aaron White's recent discoveries at the Deer Valley Petroglyph Preserve!

Much has changed about the ways we study rock imagery since 1980 when Dr. J. Simon Bruder conducted her archaeological investigation. So, archaeologists from Archaeology Southwest came out and re-inventoried the hillside using new techniques! Archaeologist Aaron White discovered so much new information about our site. Join this lecture to learn about his new discoveries and how techniques in documenting rock imagery has changed since the 1980s!

LECTURE DESCRIPTION:
In the 1970s, the Army Corps of Engineers initiated a series of flood control measures along the northern perimeter of the expanding Phoenix metropolitan area. Archaeological surveys and mitigation associated with the planned Adobe Dam resulted in the documentation of more than 1,500 petroglyphs in the Hedgpeth Hills, which are now featured at the Deer Valley Petroglyph Preserve. That effort pioneered innovative techniques in petroglyph documentation for its time. In 2025, the Bureau of Indian Affairs sponsored a re-inventory of the petroglyphs using modern methods and technologies. This presentation highlights selected results of that effort and compares the methods and techniques used then (in 1980) with those used today (in 2025).

Aaron M. Wright is an archaeologist at Archaeology Southwest whose work focuses on the cultural landscapes, rock art, and settlements of the Hohokam and Patayan traditions in southwestern Arizona. He earned his Ph.D. in Anthropology from Washington State University and is the author of the award-winning book Religion on the Rocks. Wright leads research on the lower Gila River and collaborates on efforts to document the region’s heritage and support the proposed Great Bend of the Gila National Monument.

Have you ever seen a chuckwalla climb a tree? Swipe to the end to see this female chuckwalla's daring adventure! While it isn't a common activity for chuckwallas, once and a while they will climb trees or bushes to forage or escape from predators. Sometimes we think our chuckwallas climb trees just for fun, though...

March is almost over, which means we only have one more event Saturday left of Arizona Archaeology Awareness Month! Join us this Saturday (03/28) for Wildlife Day! Bird rescue organization, Liberty Wildlife, will bring a few bird ambassadors that you can meet with them, and learn about birds in your environment with a bird-themed activity! Wildlife Day will start at 10 a.m and end at 1 p.m.!

And happening next Tuesday (03/31) will be our second Homeschool Day! Homeschool families will receive discounted admission and will be able to enjoy educational activities along the trail! To learn more, visit the link in our bio!

Photo ID:
1) Curve billed thrasher on a saguaro cactus arm
2) Starling peeking out of its new home in a saguaro cactus
3) Blooming palo verde tree
4) Male Gambel's quail crossing the parking lot
5) Blooming palo verde tree
6) Male Gambel's quail standing in the shade of a tree
7) Rock squirrel cooling off in the shade on the walkway

Learn the traditional art of paddle and anvil pottery from artist August Wood!

Paddle and anvil is the unique technique utilized by Phoenix's original indigenous inhabitants to create functional pottery from natural clays that are collected locally. Join August Wood for a workshop teaching you how to use this technique! Afterward, you can paint your very own designs onto a clay pot!

Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community member August Wood is a local traditional artist who creates baskets and clay pots. Learn from August the traditional techniques used in making clay pottery by utilizing natural materials commonly used by the Akimel O'odham.

This workshop will be held on April 4th from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.. General admission for this workshop will be $60. Admission is discounted for DVPP Members at $50. Interested in taking advantage of this discount! Sign up to be a member through the link in our bio! Otherwise, registration for this workshop can also be found through the link in our bio!

HAPPENING TODAY!
Join us for lecture from Dr. Matthew Kroot, Babalola James Jacobs, and Dr. Matt Peeples all about the findings from an archaeological field school at S'edav Va'aki and Park of Four Waters! This lecture will be from 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. and is included with admission to the Preserve. Read the description below!

DESCRIPTION:
In 2025, Arizona State University held and archaeological field school at the Ancestral O'Odham sites of S'edav Va;aki and Park of Four Waters in Phoenix, Arizona. Students documented ancient canals in Park of Four Waters dating to the Hohokam Period and materials from the historical farm of John and Nancy McDonald. Additionally, doctoral student Babalola James Jacobs led a project comparing the stone tools used in Park of Four Waters to those from S'edav Va;aki. In this presentation, Dr. Matthew Kroot, Babalola James Jacobs, and Dr. Matt Peeples will share the results of their work that sheds light on the forgotten histories of Phoenix and the Lower Salt River Valley.

Tomorrow is the first day of March, which means it's already Arizona Archaeology Awareness Month!! The Deer Valley Petroglyph Preserve is hosting events every Saturday of March from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.!

Visit the Events page of our website to see a more detailed list of what there will be to see every Saturday! Desert Ecology tours are also happening every Saturday at 9:30 a.m. and at 11 a.m.!

Create your own gorgeous beaded bracelet with Maxica Colectivo! Learn from mother-daughter duo, Adriana Quintero and Luz Violeta, about the relaxing art of beadwork!

Maxica Colectivo is a group of Wixarika and contemporary artists sharing creations inspired by nature. Their work seeks to honor the Earth the way their ancestors have, and to share the medicinal art that is part of our culture. Maxica Colectivo features traditional and contemporary beadwork made by Indigenous hands. Through this collective, they have made alliances with artist communities from Northwest Mexico, allowing them to sustain their families and ancestral traditions.

This workshop will take place on Saturday, March 7th from 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.! Admission for DVPP Members is $50, while General Admission is $60. Admission to the Preserve is INCLUDED with admission to the workshop! Sign up through the link in our bio!

Join us for our next upcoming lecture! Learn from ASU Graduate Research Assistant, Nic Hansen, about how people of the past chose the right materials for stone tool production. This lecture will take place on February 20th from 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. Admission to the lecture is included with admission to the Preserve.

Nic Hansen has hosted Flintknapping Workshops at the Preserve before, and he's returning to give a deeper dive into the history of stone tool production!

LECTURE DESCRIPTION:

"Evidence of stone tool production dates back 3.3 million years, predating our own species. From the beginning, this new behavioral adaptation required early hominin relatives to understand which characteristics a stone must possess in order to be utilized for tool production. Only stone types with specific traits can be predictably and reliably fractured into a predetermined shape to create sharp-edged fragments that are useful as tools—a process referred to as flintknapping. Understanding the nature of these qualities and learning to identify them in raw materials across the landscape is the first step in producing stone tools, a technology that was essential to the success of ancient relatives living in harsh and dangerous environments around the world.

In this lecture, ASU Graduate Research Assistant Nic Hansen will describe the necessary characteristics a rock must have to be useful as a raw material for producing stone tools. He will provide examples of the many different varieties of stone that possess these qualities and discuss how and where they have been utilized throughout the deep history of global human ancestors. He will also share his experiences investigating raw material selection and procurement through self-collecting stone for flintknapping in Arizona. Finally, the lecture will include a live demonstration of knapping techniques using a variety of raw materials, highlighting differences in their characteristics and the types of tools best suited to each. Attendees are invited to join in an engaging exploration of the stones that helped shape our shared human history."

We are set up at the Cave Creek Museum today for their Archaeology Expo! Come stop by our booth until 2pm today and see what the Deer Valley Petroglyph Preserve is all about!