New Mexico North - The Most Scenic Drives in America: 120 Spectacular Road Trips - page 492

Not for the faint of heart, this view of the Rio Grande Gorge was taken from the suspension bridge spanning the chasm.
7. Rio Grande Gorge
The high sagebrush plain east of Tres Piedras is broad and flat, offering no hint of the in-
vasive gash in the earth that lies ahead. Then suddenly, on one of the highest suspension
bridges in America, the road soars across the chasm of the Rio Grande Gorge. From this
650-foot perch, which quakes under the weight of passing trucks, you can see the raging
Rio Grande far below, its green waters encased by walls so steep and narrow that the sun's
rays manage to illuminate them only in summer—and even then only at midday. Golden
eagles, which nest on the cliffs, glide gracefully over the gorge.
8. Taos
This picture-perfect town, with its tan adobe architecture, sits in a charmed landscape of
snowy peaks and turquoise-blue skies. No wonder it has lured artists for well over a cen-
tury—and continues to do so today. Saturated with painters and writers, the town sports
such cultural trappings as galleries, craft shops, bookstores, and museums.
At the heart of town, Taos Plaza is lined with eateries and boutiques. The plaza is a
legacy of the Spaniards, who came in the 1600s searching for gold and stayed to colonize
the valley and convert the Pueblo Indians to Christianity. Their strategy did not altogeth-
er succeed; though they left behind such imposing structures as the Church of St. Francis
of Assisi, located in a nearby village, they did not thoroughly convert the Indians, whose
descendants still reside north of town at Taos Pueblo. Today, you can wander among the
pueblo's twin multitiered adobe dwellings, nestled at the base of Pueblo Peak, and watch
shawl-covered women prepare bread in large hornos (outdoor beehive ovens), just as they
have for generations.