Rio Arriba County

The county in brief

A traveler's read on Rio Arriba County

Sixty-four miles of original 1880s Denver & Rio Grande Western narrow-gauge steam railroad survive in continuous scheduled operation between Chama, New Mexico and Antonito, Colorado as the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad — the longest and highest narrow-gauge steam railroad in the United States, jointly owned by the states of New Mexico and Colorado since 1970 when both legislatures pooled $1.5 million to buy the line from D&RGW just before scrapping, and operated under a single interstate compact with a bi-state rail commission. The line crosses Cumbres Pass at 10,015 ft elevation — the highest point on any operating steam railroad in North America — and runs original-era K-36 and K-37 class 2-8-2 'Mikado' coal-fired locomotives over wooden trestles spanning the Toltec Gorge of the Los Pinos River. The Chama enginehouse and turntable complex is the only intact 1880s narrow-gauge service facility surviving in the US and is a designated National Historic Landmark.

Chama itself (population 1,031) is the southern terminus and the canonical RV-staging base for the rail experience — most riders drive a one-way bus shuttle between the two terminals, leaving the RV parked in Chama and returning by motor coach. Rio Arriba County wraps the New Mexico portion of the Chama River Valley, the 850,000-acre Jicarilla Apache Nation reservation (the largest natural-gas-producing tribe by reserves in the contiguous US per BIA Energy reports), the Carson and Santa Fe national forest portions east toward Truchas Peak, and the eastern Jemez Mountains. Heron Lake State Park (5,900 surface acres, no-wake-only motor restriction that produces a quiet sail-and-paddle reservoir) and El Vado Lake State Park (3,200 surface acres, more open-power boating allowed) both accept rigs to 50 ft with electric hookups on year-round reservation through New Mexico State Parks. Abiquiu (population 231) on US-84 was Georgia O'Keeffe's adopted painting base.