New Mexico Favorite Tips by Bwana_Brown Top 5 Page for this destination

More to New Mexico Than I Thought !

Favorite thing: I really enjoyed the changing scenery as I drove around New Mexico's upper regions. After winding my way up the Jemez River valley, the hot lowlands gave way to an amazing large open valley surrounded by Ponderosa Pines. I later found out that Valle Grande is a 1-million year old caldera that measures 14 miles from rim-to-rim. When it blew, it expelled 600 times more material than did the Mt. St. Helens eruption. This was formerly a cattle ranch but it has now been purchased to be included in the National Recreation Area there. I stopped to take a photo but the vista was so wide that I could not capture it all. From there, as I approached Los Alamos, the beauty of the scenery was marred by the effects of the major forest fire that struck this area in the summer of 2002. You could see that it burned right up to the edge of town. Los Alamos itself was different - this experimental lab located in the remote mountains of New Mexico to dabble in various 'black' sciences. It had a number of strange shaped buildings scattered about but seemed like quite a nice little spot with its streets and shopping area. On leaving Los Alamos, there was an amazing site of some white rock formations as the road descended back down toward Espanola, but again I did not get a shot of them. Later on, the next afternoon, the Angel Fire area east of Taos struck me as being a playground for the rich. Located in a scenic alpine area, it has its golf course, airport and numerous huge resorts and buildings. The drive from Mora to arrive there was interesting though! From there, you traverse a 9000 foot pass in the mountains to descend into Taos and can then enjoy a drive along the Rio Grande River valley as you head south. Major nets and concrete barriers are located at some places along the highway to catch the boulders that occasionally tumble down from the walls of the gorge. Photo of me in the Rio Grande south of Pilar, taken by one of the rafters who was getting ready to set off.