Betty's Motorhome Travels: Scenic Byways Adventure #2

Tuesday, Oct 7th, I received my weekly package of mail so the day was spent sorting through personal & business mail and processing of it.

Wednesday I was free once again to check out another scenic byway! This time I decided on one called "Valle Grande" scenic byway....sometimes called the Jemez Scenic Byway also! I picked this one because it too was lower in total miles than some of the other byways. Keep in mind, my "base camp" is in Albuquerque, so just to start most of the northern New Mexico scenic drives, I have to drive approximately 50 miles and then another 50 miles from the end of the scenic drive to Albuquerque.

Once again, I started out late, so toward the end of the day, I was running out of daylight to get back to Albuquerque. I was not expecting this to be a spectacular drive, but as I would find out, it's a "diamond in the rough"!

I started this drive by heading north on Hwy 550 to San Ysidro and turn northeasterly to Jemez (pronounced Haymas). I didn't go far before I came on Jemez and the next two pictures....

I did not go off Hwy 4 to see the Jemez Pueblo or the other pueblos at Jemez Springs along the way....my loss, I didn't read my guide book soon enough!

Such beautiful red rock...and it "appeared" so quickly!

Driving on past Jemez Springs, I next came to Soda Dam! The dam across the narrow river was formed from mineral deposits from hot springs. The dam has a hole that the river flows through downstream to Jemez Springs.

The road continues to climb and trees with brilliant yellow were mixed in with higher elevation trees.

When I came to the Jemez Falls Campground side road, I wanted to see what the campground was like for future reference. The road to the campground contined past the campground to a parking area for day users to hike to Jemez Falls. However, as I was getting ready to take the hike, I realized that I couldn't safely take my cat, Loa with me and I couldn't leave her in the car as it was too warm. I looked at the trailhead and then at my cat.....

the only responsible thing to do was to get back in the car and continue on the scenic highway! I was disappointed, but I knew it was my own decision to take Loa with me!

Down the road further, I came to Redondo Campgrounds....I concluded that both of these campgrounds were inviting places to stay on my next visit here.

Driving on I came next to the name sake of this byway, Valle Grande. This enormous valley, about 15 miles in diameter was formed when a huge volanco eruption that (as the sign states) ejected a volume of material more than 500 times greater than the Mt. St. Helen eruption. Pretty big....but I was wondering how it compared to the volanco explosion that formed the Yellowstone area!

What you see behind the sign is "the only" picture I took that turned out. You see I was taking pictures through the windows of the car because of the "flying bug invasion" that was going on outside of the car!

I read more about this area after my drive. I will have to return as there is MUCH to do in this Preserve. There is hiking, horseback riding and winter activities as well, skiing, snowshoeing and of course, there's wildlife viewing!

As I drove away and down the highway a short distance, the trees were closer to the highway. Thoughts of times long ago came to mind....a time when my parents would drive with me & my brothers to northern Wisconsin and wide roads did not exist!