Cerro Pedernal

Cerro Pedernal, a narrow basalt-capped mesa in northern New Mexico near Abiquiu Lake and the Jemez Mountains, is one of the most recognizable landforms in the Abiquiú area. Its names in Spanish, Tewa, and Cochiti all reflect stone, linking the mountain to both the landscape and Indigenous languages. It was also a source of chert for the prehistoric Gallina people, tying it to a deeper human past. Pedernal later became closely associated with Georgia O’Keeffe, who painted it many times and whose ashes were scattered on its summit after her death. Its cliffs also draw rock climbers.

New Mexico · United States