You are in Taos Canyon now, following the Rio Fernando de Taos down toward town, and this is the gentlest, prettiest stretch of the whole circle — a stream on one side, pines and cottonwoods, cabins and small galleries tucked into the trees, and the walls easing back the further you go.
This canyon is the historic eastern approach to Taos. Everything that came from the plains — trade goods, armies, the Santa Fe Trail traffic that branched this way, and eventually tourists — came down through here. It is why the town sits where it sits.
There are Forest Service campgrounds along here and several trailheads, and it is a good place to pull over and put your feet in the water on a hot day.
Watch the light in the afternoon. The canyon runs roughly east-west, so the low sun comes straight up it and sets the cottonwoods on fire in October. Every photographer in Taos knows about this stretch.
One practical warning: this is the stretch where drivers relax after the pass, and it has curves, driveways, cyclists and wildlife. Stay awake for another fifteen minutes.
As the canyon opens out you will come into the east side of Taos, and the loop closes. You will recognize where you are — you started here.
Photo: Irving Rusinow · Public domain