Canyon Rim – Rio Grande Trail

The Canyon Rim Trail is billed as ‘strenuous,’ but since it was a level, relatively even walk, the only strenuous part was the length – 7.5 miles round trip.

The beginning of the Canyon Rim Trail was quite lovely with views out to the canyon and beyond. It’s 4-miles to the lookout over the Rio Grande which would be shorter as the crow flies, but we had to walk around every side canyon as we followed the rim.

The views from the overlook on the south end of the trail were fabulous. We could see across the water to a dock where, if you had a private boat, you could climb up to a display of pictographs on the other side. With binoculars we were able to pick out one — the tail of a panther.

After leaving the overlook we parallel the shore for a while — about 100 feet above the water. There are high rock cliffs on each side. Here the Rio Grande is very shallow with weeds growing in the middle, more so further north. This was clearly the best part of the hike and worth the hike.

We returned on the Rio Grande Trail which is really a dirt and mud road. Not terribly scenic.

As I sit writing this, the border patrol is circling in a truck in our campground and in a helicopter over the area. Not sure what has been reported.

-- Janet (text) and David (photos)