Rio Hondo (Northern New Mexico)

This article is about the Rio Hondo in northern New Mexico. For the river in southern New Mexico, see Rio Hondo (Southern New Mexico).

The Rio Hondo is a river in northern New Mexico. A left tributary of the Rio Grande, it flows approximately 20 miles (32 km) from its headwaters high in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains near Wheeler Peak and the Taos Ski Valley to its discharge in the Rio Grande Gorge just west of the community of Arroyo Hondo. Portions of the Rio Hondo are prized as prime spots for bird-watching and fishing.^[3] The river was the subject of a 2005 study by the New Mexico Environment Department Surface Water Quality Bureau into the effects of wastewater from Taos Ski Valley, which is discharged from the Village of Taos Ski Valley Waste Water Treatment Plant.^[4]

Rio Hondo
Children near the Rio Hondo, Taos County, 1941
Location of the mouth of the Rio Hondo in New Mexico
Etymology	Spanish for "deep river."
Location
Country	United States
State	New Mexico
County	Taos
Physical characteristics
Source	Above Taos Ski Valley
• location	Taos Mountains
• coordinates	36°36′40″N 105°25′42″W[1]
• elevation	10,840 ft (3,300 m)[2]
Mouth	Rio Grande
• location	Rio Grande Gorge
• coordinates	36°32′11″N 105°39′37″W[1]
• elevation	6,840 ft (2,080 m)[1]
Length	20 mi (32 km)

In Spanish, Río Hondo means "deep river".^[5]

See also

• List of tributaries of the Rio Grande
• List of rivers of New Mexico