Rio Grande Gorge Bridge

The Rio Grande Gorge Bridge spans the Rio Grande Gorge 18 miles west of Taos, New Mexico, at a height of 565 feet above the river — the fifth-highest highway bridge in the United States at the time of its 1965 completion. The single-span steel deck arch bridge carries US-64 across the gorge at a point where the river has cut a nearly vertical-walled slot into the Taos Plateau basalt, creating one of the most dramatic canyon viewpoints in the American Southwest. Pedestrian sidewalks run the full 1,280-foot length of the bridge on both sides, allowing visitors to walk from one rim to the other and stop at any point to look straight down 565 feet to the olive-green river below. The depth of the gorge and the columnar basalt formations on the canyon walls — evidence of the volcanic origin of the Taos Plateau — create a visually striking landscape that shifts dramatically at different times of day. The most photogenic angles are from the pedestrian walkway looking south down the gorge at sunrise, when long shadows emphasize the depth of the slot, or looking west from the east parking area. A second pullout on the west side provides a complementary perspective looking back east toward Taos Mountain. BLM-managed trails descend into the gorge from the east parking area, used by whitewater rafters and kayakers running the Class IV Upper Taos Box section of the Rio Grande. A small interpretive kiosk near the east parking lot covers gorge geology and the river ecosystem. The bridge is part of the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument and no fee is charged for access at any time.