Valle Vidal

So what exactly is the Valle Vidal? Translated "The Valley of Life," and named after a very impressive valley that splits the 100,000-acre unit of the Carson National Forest like a seam, the park was a gift to the public by the Pennzoil Company. Formerly, a part of the Vermejo Park, this donation was the single largest and most valuable donation of private land ever transferred to the Forest Service.

Today, the Valle Vidal has become a sanctuary for outdoor recreation, hunting and fishing enthusiasts. It is special place, cherished by the locals and entrusted by all. Each year more than 3,000 Boy Scouts find high adventure in the alpine mountains.

Ledoux Street

"For art to exist," wrote Nietzsche, "for any sort of aesthetic activity or perception to exist, a certain physiological precondition is indispensable: intoxication."

But not necessarily intoxication of the alcoholic kind, which may or may not have stirred the muse of such great writers as Dylan Thomas, Ring Lardner and Malcolm Lowry.

The English novelist, D.H. Lawrence, became intoxicated with New Mexico early in this century and he may have explained why, for over 100 years, artists have flocked to Taos in northern New Mexico at the southern tip of the Rocky Mountain chain.

Taos Lies Ahead

By taking the airport shuttle you will be greeted with interesting scenery and will feel yourself surrounded by the quaint, earthy, relaxing life-style of Northern New Mexico. The airport shuttle takes you north on highways near the Rio Grande River through, Cochiti, Santa Fe, Espanola.

Soon after you pass Espanola and the Santa Clara Pueblo's casino,  you reach Velarde and pass into The Rio Grande Gorge where you travel the winding two-lane road beside the Rio Grande River. After some time in the gorge passing through towns like Rinconada, Embudo, Dixon and Pilar, the highway rises out of the gorge and you are greeted by the marvelous site of Taos town above the gorge with sacred Taos Mountain in the distance.