Skip to main content

Rio Grande Gorge Bridge



Traveling west from Taos, New Mexico on US 64, you will reach the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, which is the second highest bridge on the U.S. Highway System. Located 10 miles west of Taos in El Prado, New Mexico, the bridge crosses the deep gorge of the Rio Grande is the only major rift across an otherwise flat expanse of land between the mountains of the Carson National Forest and the Sangre de Cristos.

This impressive bridge is a three span steel truss bridge. At one time, the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge was called the “bridge to nowhere”, because while it was being built, funding did not exist to continue the road on the other side of the bridge from Taos. At 650 feet above the historic and scenic Rio Grande, it is the fifth highest bridge in the United States. The bridge is 1280 feet long with two 300 foot long approach spans with a 600 foot long main span. The bridge was dedicated on September 10, 1965, and in 1966, the American Institute of Steel Construction awarded the bridge the Most Beautiful Steel Bridge in the Long Span category.  The bridge has appeared in several films as well, such as including Natural Born Killers and White Sands.

The bridge is one of the most visited tourist attractions in the Taos region with parking areas available on both sides of the bridge. One of the best features of the bridge are several platforms that peer out from the roadway. This allows visitors to stand several feet out above the Rio Grande Gorge. White water rafting is also popular in the region and allows a rare opportunity to view the bridge from the bottom of the canyon. From here, the Rio Grande flows south through the famous Taos “Box” where the river is mostly continuous white water of Class 4+ and 5 in high water.

Located 10 miles (16 km) west of Taos, the deep gorge of the Rio Grande is the only major rift across an otherwise flat expanse of land between the mountains of the Carson National Forest and the Sangre de Cristos.

Rio Grande Gorge Bridge looking northeast.


Looking towards Taos on US 64 eastbound.

It's a long way down to the bottom.

The bridge won an award in 1966. With the surrounding views of the Rio Grande and the gorge, I can understand why.





How to Get There:

Sources and Links:
HighestBridges.com - Rio Grande Gorge Bridge
Taos.org - Rio Grande Gorge Bridge

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The 1915-era Teilman Bridge (the only known Concrete Pony Truss Bridge in California)

The Teilman Bridge is a semi-abandoned structure over Fresno Slough west of Burrell siding near the intersection of Elkhorn Avenue and Elkhorn Grade.  This structure is the only known Concrete Pony Truss Bridge constructed in California and was designed by Ingvart Teilman.  Teilman's Bridge would open in late 1915 when the Elkhorn Grade was the primary road between Fresno and Coalinga.  The structure would be replaced in 1991 but was left standing as it carries pipelines over Fresno Slough.  Part 1; the history of the Teilman Bridge In the early Twentieth Century the most direct highway between Fresno and Coalinga followed the Elkhorn Grade.  The Elkhorn Grade began at Fresno Slough a short distance west of Burrell siding.  From Fresno Slough the Elkhorn Grade followed a generally southwestern course through San Joaquin Valley into the Kettleman Hills towards Coalinga.   The Elkhorn Grade can be seen on the  1914 C.F. Weber map of Fresno Coun...

The Dummy Lights of New York

  A relic of the early days of motoring, dummy lights were traffic lights  that  were  placed  in the middle of a street intersection. In those early days, traffic shuffled through busy intersections with the help of a police officer who stood on top of a pedestal. As technology improved and electric traffic signals became commonplace, they were also  originally  positioned on a platform at the center of the intersection. Those traffic signals became known as  " dummy lights "  and were common until  traffic lights were moved  onto wires and poles that crossed above the intersection.  In New York State, only a handful of these dummy lights exist. The dummy lights  are found  in the Hudson Valley towns of Beacon and Croton-on-Hudson, plus there is an ongoing tug of war in Canajoharie in the Mohawk Valley, where their dummy light has been knocked down and replaced a few times. The dummy light in Canajoharie is currently...

Prunedale Road (Monterey County)

Prunedale Road is a short 2.6-mile-long frontage corridor of US Route 101 in the namesake Monterey County community of Prunedale.  Prior to 1932 US Route 101 bypassed Prunedale in favor of the San Juan Grade to the east.  Prunedale Road along with nearby Moro Road served as an alternative connecting highway between Salinas and San Juan Bautista.  Following the realignment of US Route 101 onto the Prunedale Cutoff the former through route along Prunedale Road would be rendered as a western frontage.   Part 1; the history of Prunedale Road Prunedale Road is located in and is named after the Monterey County community of Prunedale.  Said community was founded near the junction of San Migeul Canyon, Langley Canyon and Echo Valley.  Watsonville settler Charles Langley (namesake of Langley Canyon) was one of the prominent early community settlers.  The Prunedale Post Office would open for the first time in 1894 but would close by 1908.  Early agricu...