Scenic Trips to the Geologic Past # 2
The Enchanted Circle—Loop Drives From Taos

By P. W. Bauer, J. C. Love, J. H. Schilling, and J. E. Taggart, Jr., 5th edition, 1968, revised 1991, 137 pp., 2 tables, 121 figs.

Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Taos Plateau, Rio Grande Gorge: the geology of north-central New Mexico is as diverse and spectacular as any place on Earth. Just as there are contrasts between strikingly different landscapes, diversity also is found in the region's history and in its American Indian, Spanish, and Anglo American cultures. This guide- book's two main tours follow major highways north and south of Taos, incorporating descriptions of roadside geology with high- lights on history, architecture, and vegetation along the routes and with notes on places to picnic, fish, and camp. One road log makes a 100 mi loop north of Taos through Questa, Red River, and Eagle Nest, a route familiarly known as the "enchanted circle." A second, 62 mi road log follows tranquil river valleys through the picturesque towns of Dixon, Peñasco, and Vadito while circling the Picuris Mountains. Explore these routes and four shorter side trips on less-traveled roads into the Rio Grande Gorge, into the high country northwest of Red River, and to the Harding pegmatite mine. Discover what geological processes have been at work for millions of years shaping the landscape and directing the course of human history as well.