Rio Grande and Rio Chama Confluence

Just north of Española, the Rio Grande and Rio Chama rivers meet in a spot that has drawn human settlement for a thousand years. The confluence is accessible from several points along the river road heading north from town toward Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, and the views of the two rivers joining in the broad valley are dramatic, especially in the late afternoon light when the cottonwoods glow gold in autumn.

The stretch of river around the confluence is used for fishing — the Rio Grande supports brown and rainbow trout in this area — and there are informal access points for swimming in summer, though the current can be deceptively strong. The Rio Chama upstream from this point is one of the better whitewater sections in northern New Mexico, running through red rock canyons similar in character to the Colorado plateau. Rafting trips on the Chama operate out of Abiquiú, about 40 kilometres upstream.

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A story
The confluence of two rivers was strategically significant to both the Pueblo peoples and to the Spanish colonisers. Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo was established precisely here for the same reason Juan de Oñate chose it as New Mexico's first capital: at the meeting of two rivers, you control access to two valleys and two directions of travel. The Rio Chama comes down from the mountains of Colorado; the Rio Grande comes from as far north as Colorado's San Juan Mountains, on its way to the Gulf of Mexico.

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