El Morro Valley, New Mexico
El Morro Valley is a census-designated place in Cibola County, New Mexico, United States. It includes El Morro National Monument and the unincorporated community of El Morro. The area was first listed as a CDP prior to the 2020 census.
The CDP is in northwestern Cibola County along New Mexico State Road 53; it is southeast of Ramah and southwest of Interstate 40 at Grants. It is remotely located west-southwest of Grants along New Mexico State Road 53, and southeast of Gallup.
El Morro is named after a nearby sandstone promontory with a pool of water at its base, a desert oasis which the Spanish conquistadors called El Morro. The Zuni people call it A'ts'ina. Anglo-Americans called it "Inscription Rock". El Morro National Monument is located west of the community on Highway 53, along the old Zuni-Acoma Trail, an ancient Pueblo trade route also known as the Ancient Way.
El Morro is an artist community and home of the El Morro Area Arts Council, an art gallery, a trading post / coffee shop, cafe, RV park & campgrounds, feed & seed store, consignment store and healing arts center. El Morro is the social hub for a colorful array of artists, homesteaders and individualists who reside in a 1000+ square mile area, from El Malpais National Monument to the east, Ramah to the west, the Zuni Mountains to the north, and Candy Kitchen to the south.