Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument
Spending a Weekend in Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument | October 2024
During our time in Colorado, we decided to take a brief intermission and dip into New Mexico. This idea came about when we were looking for places to camp over Indigenous People’s Day weekend. We wanted somewhere warmer, with more desert-like scenery, and less people; ideally a place where we could stay for several days and have enough things to do nearby. We also didn’t want to drive too far, so when we turned to New Mexico on the map and saw a park administered by the BLM right across the border that we hadn’t heard of, we decided to try it out. As an added bonus, we were also able to enter one more new Colorado county on our way there.
As we made our way South, Curtis pointed out all the peaks that meet his prominence challenge. There were a lot in this area, but none had straightforward ways to the top, or trailheads that would be interesting or comfortable for Charlotte and I. Thankfully there would be some near where we were camping that he could hike, but we noted these as possible spots to visit on our way back North.
We entered New Mexico on NM-522 and drove to the small town of Cerro, where we turned off the highway and drove into Rio Grande del Norte National Monument. We chose to spend our time here solely on the East side of the Rio Grande, which is more developed with campgrounds and trails, both on the rim/plateau and down into the canyon. There’s a long one-way road that loops through the park, so we first drove to the Wild Rivers visitor center to get more information, then planned to drive around and find a campsite.
There are 5 different campgrounds in this area with a decent amount of sites, both for RVs/vans and tent only, though we found that it was a bit busier than we had expected. We first drove around the El Aguaje Campground, which had a few open spots, but none were that scenic and since it was still early afternoon, we felt we could do better. We continued driving to Little Arsenic Springs Campground which was almost empty, and found possibly the most scenic spot in the park — right on the edge of the canyon, overlooking the Rio Grande river! We weren’t the only ones who thought that, given how many people would drive past our site over the weekend and ask if we were leaving (including one RVer who did so repeatedly over multiple days). It’s only $7/night to camp here, and besides the great views and nearby trails, it had clean outhouses, fresh water, and picnic tables under shelter at every site. We liked it so much, we ended up staying here for 5 nights! As the day went on, the sites here filled up, so we were thankful we arrived when we did.
Throughout our time here, there were several highlights that will forever make this a memorable spot for us. The first (and maybe our favorite) highlight came on our first night here. We took Charlotte for an evening walk, then put her in the bed in the van where she promptly fell asleep. Since there was still some lingering light, we decided to go for a longer walk together South on the rim trail to the overlook of the confluence of the Red and Rio Grande Rivers. It was dark by the time we arrived, but since we were together and the trail was wide and well maintained, we felt safe. As we started walking North back to the campsite, we kept our eyes trained to the sky because I had seen online that the Northern lights were supposed to be visible tonight. We started to wonder if going South was a mistake because according to the aurora forecast that I saw, New Mexico was decidedly in the “not visible to the naked eye” zone.
As we neared our campground and the end of our walk, I was convinced I was seeing a blue/green glow on the horizon. I couldn’t tell if I was really seeing it or if I just wanted to see something so bad that my eyes were making it up. But I knew there was no city to the North that could produce a light like that, so I grabbed my camera and attempted to take a picture, knowing that everyone says sometimes cameras can pick up the lights better than the naked eye. After struggling a bit playing around with the settings, I managed to capture what definitely looked like a blue-green glow, confirming that it was really there. But when we arrived at the clearing at the entrance to our campground, the lights really started to show off!
It started with a bright red glow to the Northwest that we could see so clearly with our bare eyes, casting out any doubt that our minds were playing tricks on us. Throughout the next 30-45 minutes, that spot grew bigger into a long ribbon dancing across the sky from the Northeast to the Northwest, with a bright green glow at its base. We aren’t the type to bother neighbors when camping, but tonight we couldn’t help it — Curtis went around the whole campground to let people know, and some came and joined us where we stood. I attempted to take pictures, and while they’re not the best because none are in focus, they serve their purpose in capturing exactly what we were seeing so we can remember these moments forever. I can’t believe we spent so much time up North this year only to see the Northern lights in Iowa and New Mexico, of all places!
The best part about tonight’s lights — besides them being so bright and obvious and visible to the naked eye — is that they happened shortly after sunset, and that it was still a comfortable temperature outside, so I wasn’t too cold and we still got to bed on time.
There were some sources that said the geomagnetic storm would continue, but that was the only night we saw the aurora here. However, each night we enjoyed sunsets that were each unique and beautiful. There’s simply nothing like the Southwestern sky, paired with wide open views and mountain ranges scattered across the horizon. We went for walks every night with Charlotte on the rim trail — the above pictures are of a night when we made it to the confluence before it became completely dark.
Curtis went on two hikes on his own while we were here, which he’ll write about in his own post. During that time, I stayed with Charlotte, mostly in our campsite but sometimes wandering around the campground. One morning while Curtis was gone, a tarantula wandered through our site, but it kept to itself and I was very brave (and Curtis was jealous to hear that he missed it!). Our site was right next to the trailhead for a trail that went down into the canyon, and every day I thought about going for a solo hike, until our last full day here when I finally decided to put on my hiking boots and just do it.
The Little Arsenic Springs Trail is one mile long, and switchbacks down to the base of the canyon. From there, you can hike either South towards the confluence or North towards some springs and other trails that lead back to the rim. Curtis made a loop hike which he’ll write about in his own post, but my goal was simply to see the river. I started as early as I could so that most of my walk would be in the shade, and walked carefully to not slip on rocks on my way down. I was a bit nervous to run into bighorn because Curtis had seen some, but I didn’t see any on my hike. When I came to the end of my trail at the bottom of the canyon, it was a bit anticlimactic because I couldn’t see the river from there, so instead I walked a little ways to the North to get a better view. I didn’t see an easy way to get down to the water’s edge, but I didn’t care, I didn’t want to jump in anyway. I wandered a bit further South as well, just to see where the backcountry campsites where. After that, I began my return hike, taking my time but still reaching the rim before the heat of the day set in. Maybe not super exciting, but I was glad I did it, it would have been a shame to stay here for 5 days and never even try!
A few hours later, I was sitting outside in the sun while Curtis and Charlie were inside the van, when the second big highlight of this trip happened. I heard something rustling in the bushes nearby, looked around and saw several bighorns standing right there watching me! Unlike with our bear encounter last week, I was quick with my camera this time and managed to get some good pictures as they strolled through our campsite — two rams and two ewes. We stood on the other side of our van and watched them to give them their space. I’m thankful that both of our closer wildlife encounters on this trip happened in safe ways and gave us some good memories!
We wrapped up our time here with one last glorious sunset, and another night camping in very comfortable weather. We’re so glad we found this spot and got to enjoy it for as long as we did — I hope our travels bring us back here someday, and maybe next time we’ll do a bit more exploring into the more remote areas of this park!
The next morning started off before dawn for Curtis, who had a 6am meeting with a plant on the East coast. The meeting would eventually send things spiraling into a major change of plans for us…but we didn’t know that yet. Instead, we enjoyed one last beautiful morning here, did our chores, refilled our water, and said goodbye to our beautiful campsite. As we left the park we stopped at one last lookout, which offered some fantastic views of the canyon. Until next time, New Mexico!
