I’ve been criss-crossing the Rio Grande this winter, from Santa Fe to Truth or Consequences and Las Cruces. So when I got to Taos, how could I resist the short drive to see the Rio Grande Gorge? Short answer: I couldn’t!
The day was cold and windy but it made for great vistas across the plains to the mountains that surround Taos. The river itself was pretty low going through the gorge. It seemed bigger the next day when I was driving along it on Route 68 going south out of Taos, but maybe that’s just scale playing tricks on me. The Gorge is 800 feet deep, which I will confess actually looks like a LOT more when there’s nothing between you and it on a very windy day except a steel bridge.
The two photos above were taken with my iPhone 12. The next two were taken with my Sony A7, using a vintage Minolta 58mm lens. Even though it was hella windy and the camera kept getting dust on the lens, it was worth it to me to take it out and get some photos with it. I think they’re better than the iPhone images, but maybe that’s just me.
As I was walking off the bridge back to the rest area (plenty of parking and free restrooms!), a guy going the other way asked me if it was as great as the Grand Canyon. No, I answered, but it’s cool in it’s own way.
How Cool Is This Place?
Geologically, the Gorge formation is is the reverse of how the Grand Canyon of the Colorado was created. Everyone knows the Colorado River carved that deep valley and those amazing layers of the Grand Canyon. Here, it’s the opposite. The Rio Grande River didn’t cause the valley that became the gorge. A collision 29 million years ago between the North American and Pacific tectonic plates created a rift valley and the larger Rio Grande Rift area that stretches from central Colorado to west Texas. Water later found the lowered rift valley and and only then did erosion start creating the 50-mile long canyon known today as the Rio Grande Gorge.
Want to Know More?
Come dance with the west wind and touch on the mountain tops
Sail o’er the canyons and up to the stars
And reach for the heavens and hope for the future
And all that we can be and not what we are.
Thanks for the education. My dad’s middle name was Taos and I always wanted to visit there.
We went to see it too. Because if you are from WV and know the New River Gorge Bridge, you’ve got to see another. No comparison, but “gorge”ous
in its own way.
We really enjoy following your travels– hope to meet up again sometime! Maybe this summer!
Your photos are wonderful. And I agree with you, I prefer the photos you took with your Sony to the iPhone photos. I invariably prefer the photos I take with my Canon to the photos I take with my iPhone…there’s something about my phone photos that is too harsh and saturated. Anyway, the Rio Grande Gorge is cool! We biked the trail along the gorge by the bridge—it was interesting biking right up to the edge and looking over!
(P.S. I’ve signed up for your blog a couple of times but have never received notifications. I’m glad you commented on our blog. It triggered me to come take a look at what you’ve been up to!)
That bridge!
Oh, you know I would drive you over it any day, Sue 🙂 I have to admit, it was so windy that I didn’t take many shots with my phone, because I was afraid it would fly out of my hands!
LOVE LOVE LOVE this post. Brought back pleasant memories of living in Taos and visiting the bridge. Even after three years seeing it often, it doesn’t get old. I’ve heard it described as a “failed rift.” The plates shifted, but didn’t divide. You captured it gloriously and yes, along 68, the Rio Grande looks much wider and full than from that high-bridge vantage point.