The Rio Grande del Norte contains some of the most spectacular lands and public hunting & fishing habitat in all of New Mexico. Just above the Colorado border, the Rio Grande cuts into the Servilleta lava flows that make up the Taos Plateau. Further south, at the New Mexico state line, the gorge is 150 feet across; the river 200 feet below. The gorge expands as it continues south, west of Questa, reaching over a half mile wide with the Rio Grande appearing as a glinting green ribbon 800 feet below. From the edge of the gorge, vast grass and sagebrush mesas mix with forested slopes of volcanic intrusion. Some 30 miles northwest of Taos lies Ute Mountain, a scenic icon of New Mexico. This forested extinct volcano rises 2,600 feet above the surrounding sagebrush plain and a high point of 10,093 feet. Matching these ecological and scenic resources, the area boasts 10,000 years of human history, and a broad variety of archeological and historic resources to tell that story.