“Landslide Road”

The golf course area south of town has been developed extensively in the past few years, and encroachment upon the Rio Pueblo rim, while slowed by the recession, is continuing. The area discussed here is where the old road washed out many years ago, past the UNM campus and golf course. The road continues paved but with dips until it ends at an abutment and gravel and dirt pull offs. Some of the past and present uses of this area are evidenced by the shotgun shell casings, blown out appliances, wrecked cars run over the cliff and strewn glass. Folks still like to shoot out there, so if you hear rounds going off come back another day.

The trail, if you can call it that, starts at the abutment and heads down along the old landslide road paralleling the Rio Pueblo valley. This river runs down into the Rio Grande near the Taos Junction Bridge, which can be reached from the other side via the Pilar entrance road to the Orilla Verde recreation area. Nothing here is maintained and you should not assume that the ground beneath your feet has been reinforced in any way. Occasional sinkholes appear and in some areas the trail gets fairly narrow because of rock falls. You can take this walk around a few bends and get great views of the valley walls and river below, as well as fascinating studies of rock face and plants on the eastern side close to your path.

This description may sound rather drab and depressing, but this walk is actually a hidden gem that yields wonderful interplay of rock, plants and vistas. Morning hours keep the rock face in shadows, thus low contrast light, while afternoon light can be very high contrast with deep shadows.

On the way back driving out you may want to venture into some of the subdivision roads. There are few houses there (as of this writing) and of course respect all property lines and posted notices, but if you drive carefully down some of the smaller tracks (four wheel recommended, and go out there during or after a rain at your own risk) you can get great overviews of the Rio Pueblo valley. In fact, when storm clouds gather, this is one of the most exciting areas to watch the growing storms over the Sangres.

Photo and text copyright George Schaub. The rock face along the cliffs of this “trail” have an amazing interplay of plants and rock forms.