Rio Grande River Gorge

Thursday May 22 & Friday May 23, 2025                       Most Recent Posts
Taos Valley RV Park                                                       Visiting Taos Pueblo
Taos, New Mexico                                                        The D.H. Lawrence Ranch

I had thought I could go north to visit the D.H. Lawrence Ranch in the morning and then go on around toward the west to see the famous Rio Grande Gorge Bridge in the afternoon.  BUT,  the wild goose chase in getting to the Lawrence Ranch didn’t leave me enough time or energy for two in one day.

Turns out just as well that I put it off until the following day, since the bridge was only one piece of what there was to see at that spot.

The Rio Grande Gorge in New Mexico is a vast canyon that starts near the New Mexico-Colorado border and stretches over 50 miles ending just southeast of Taos, New Mexico.

The bridge carries Highway 64 across the Rio Grande River about 12 miles north of Taos.  Construction was started in 1963 and completed in 1965.  When it was first built it was nicknamed the "Bridge to Nowhere" because funding was not available to complete the road on the other side.  I’m wondering what you did when you crossed it.  I assume there must have been a place to park though no continuation of Route 64.

In 1966 the American Institute of Steel Construction awarded the bridge "Most Beautiful Steel Bridge" in the "Long Span" category

When researching the “facts” about the bridge I found a controversy about the height.  The height of the bridge above the river is somewhat of a controversy.  When it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1967, it was listed as 650 feet.  In 2010 the Highest Bridges website claimed it was 565’.  In January of 2016 Materials Performance Magazine, a white paper about the bridge's then just completed inspection by the New Mexico Department of Transportation, listed it as 600’.   So who do you believe and how did each of them measure the bridge?   Inquiring minds and all that….

I am standing on the bridge taking the pictures below.  Looks pretty far down to me.

There is no controversy that the span of the bridge is 1,280 feet in  two 300-foot-long approach spans with a 600-foot-long  main center span.

The bridge was amazingly wide as I walked across and the river which as I looked down appeared very small, narrow and calm.  But I zoomed in and could see white water.  There are 15 dams on the poor Rio Grande River river, many of them in New Mexico. I read that the river flows are significant until Elephant Butte Reservoir in New Mexico.   It’s amazing it even is a river at this point.  I can’t imagine what it must look like in Big Bend National Park in Texas.  It gives me a physical feeling of sadness that we are so egocentric about our rivers.  I’m one of those that believes rivers, ecosystems, trees, wild animals and natural entities  should have legal standing.  That corporations do seems a completely unfair playing field. Let the rivers flow!   (sorry for my soapbox)

Since I didn’t see any today, I don’t know whether people raft this river through this gorge but it looks narrow and shallow from here.

The views from the pedestrian walkway, west over the empty Taos Plateau and down the jagged walls of the gorge are amazing

After leaving the bridge, I passed vendors selling jewelry, sage sticks and other souvenirs as I went to the trailhead.

The trail head is just beyond the vendors.  It is formally known as West Rim Trail Rio Grande Trail, Rio Grande River Recreation, Area Rio Grande del Norte National Monument

I looked back as I walked away from the bridge down the trail.  It is a huge bridge.

Looking over the plateau, the clouds at the horizon reminded me of O’Keeffe’s huge painting Sky Above Clouds.

The trail was flat and wide at first, then rocky and narrowing.

Being born and bred in the east coast deciduous forest, the south west with its infrequent trees is quite foreign to me.

I don’t know my New Mexico Lizards so I’m counting on someone to tell me who this fellow is.

It’s just amazing to me that this thorny cactus can grow in what looks to me like solid rock.

I was totally surprised to come upon this Tipi frame with prayer flags waving in the wind marking a spiral rock labyrinth.

Of course I had to walk the labyrinth.

The tipi marked the beginning

In the center was a collection of “gifts” people had left.

Gem stones, tin cans, paper cups, pitchers, small statues, a shirt . . . .

Hats off to whoever did this and I assume maintains it.

Further along the trail, I took a side path and found a cave part way down a side gorge with what I assume were swallows streaming in and out.   The little cave is on the left side close to the bottom of the picture.

The cave is just below the star.  as you can see it’s right off the trail but you’ll miss it if you don’t go wandering and looking.

I had a very hard time getting pictures of the many swallows zooming in and out.  Both because they were going so fast and secondly because of the sunlight.  Look carefully and you can see one that looks completely white in the photo below above a nest.

I had over a dozen pictures but my camera just could not keep up.  This was the best I got.  They were fascinating to watch and I stayed for some time as they zipped in and out.

The end of the trail was a lovely tranquil vista of the river flowing away from the bridge.  Nothing man made in sight.  I had it all to myself.  It was wonderful.

The ledge you could walk right off the end of.  From this angle it looked like the walls met at the end of my sight line.

I zoomed in and saw it wasn’t so.  I’m just a long long way off.

A further zoom showed the snow still on  the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

My seated foot shot is in honor of John and Pam.  Hope they are out there somewhere.

The walls beside me at this spot were simply amazing and I wished my friend Sue Malone were here to tell me about the geology.

When I turned to go, there just before trail’s end, was a wonderful medicine wheel that I hadn’t even seen so focused was I on the long distance view.  It was man made but felt like it belonged.

And then there was this guy.  Is he the same as the other that I saw?  His markings are slightly different.   They were my only wildlife for the hike.

Same terrain on the way back.

I came to some folks were trying to do a selfie of a group so I volunteered to take it for them.  They in return took this one of me.  As you can see, the bridge is still some distance away.  But it’s there  it if you look closely.

When the trail widened, flattened and I could see the bridge more closely  I knew I was nearing the end of my 4 mile hike.

It was a wonderful hike and it was just what I needed.  To date I have had far too much tourist and museum.

I count it among my favorite times in NM along with Ghost Ranch, Bandelier and the Georgia O’Keeffe house and museum