Rio Grande Gorge Bridge

When engineers set out to carry U.S. 64 west from Taos in the early 1960s, the Rio Grande Gorge stood in the way, too deep and too steep to fill or to detour around easily. Their answer was a steel deck arch bridge, its roadway riding on top of a great curved arch of steel that springs from one rim of the canyon to the other. Construction began in 1963, and the bridge was dedicated in September 1965.

The whole structure runs about 1,280 feet long, with a 600-foot main span in the center flanked by two 300-foot approaches. Sources have long argued over exactly how high it stands above the water, with figures from about 565 to 650 feet, but any way you measure it the drop is enormous. In 1966 the American Institute of Steel Construction named it the most beautiful long-span steel bridge built that year, and it earned a place on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.

The experience is simple and unforgettable: you leave your car, walk out along the sidewalk, and step into one of the viewing cutouts that bump out from the middle of the span. From there you can look straight down the sheer rock walls to the Rio Grande winding along the canyon floor. People with a fear of heights often get no farther than a peek, and the plateau wind that comes across the open ground only adds to the drama.

Look outward and the gorge runs off to the north and south in a jagged line across the plain, with the Sangre de Cristo Mountains standing blue on the eastern horizon. Scan the canyon walls and you may spot bighorn sheep picking their way along ledges, or hawks and ravens riding the updrafts. Sunrise and sunset set the rock glowing and are the favorite times for photographers, though the middle of a clear day shows the depth of the gorge at its starkest.

The bridge is only the most famous viewpoint of a much larger wild landscape. In 2013 the surrounding country was set aside as the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, hundreds of thousands of acres of high sage plain, extinct volcanoes, and the deep gorges of the Rio Grande and the Red River. It is managed by the Bureau of Land Management and laced with trails for those who want more than the view from the bridge.

Right at the west end of the bridge, a free rest area gives you parking, restrooms, and picnic tables, and Native American artisans often set up nearby to sell jewelry and other work. From the same spot the West Rim Trail runs for miles south along the very lip of the canyon, an easy, level path with the gorge always at your side, so a quick photo stop can just as easily turn into a long walk on the rim.

The bridge sits about ten miles west of Taos on U.S. 64, an easy and well-signed drive from town, and there is no fee to visit or to park at the rest area. Give yourself time for the walk out to the middle and back, and dress for wind and open sun, since there is almost no shade on the plateau. Watch children closely near the railings and stay on the sidewalks away from passing traffic.

It pairs naturally with the other great sights around Taos, from the ancient adobe of Taos Pueblo to the off-grid Earthship homes just up the road, so it fits neatly into a day of exploring. Come for ten minutes and you will still remember the moment the ground dropped out from under the highway; come at the right light, with time to walk the rim, and it becomes one of the finest stops in northern New Mexico.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.