Geology Picture of the Week, Feb. 10-16, 2008: Soda Dam Falls on the Jemez River (NM)

Michele's Waterfall Page ^ | 2004 | Michele Maki

[cogitator]

This is one that I've actually seen in person; it's just off Highway 4 north of Jemez Springs (near Los Alamos). There's a small hot spring, certainly from the remnant heat of the Valles Caldera just up the road, that created the "soda" (limestone) that makes the dam that is cut through by the Jemez River.

[cogitator]

Bonus: Jemez Falls is pretty too. I didn't see this; I was driving back to Albequerque from a day trip to Bandelier National Monument, and the light was fading. So I saw Soda Dam Falls but didn't have time to see Jemez Falls.

[cogitator]

** ping **’

[geezerwheezer]

Really nice. Thanks!

[radar101]

[Tijeras_Slim]

You can now arrange to make hikes in the Valles. Absolutely fantastic place.

[Robert A Cook PE]

Hard water? 8<)

[NRA2BFree]

Thanks for the ping! It’s really beautiful in the jemez area. When I lived in Albuquerque, I used to go fishing at Fenton Lake, and fished in the Jemez River close to the Dam on many of those trips.

[SuziQ]

That first picture looks like some sort of monster. ;o)

I'd love to go to New Mexico on vacation, sometime.

[CougarGA7]

My wife grew up in a house about a 1/4 mile from here. The hot spring that created this formation is on the other side of the road.

Unfortunately, when they cut the road in the 1950s they also cut the spring off from the dam so it will only erode from here. It used to be that the springs were arranged into small puddles right on the roadside. The County now tries to keep that from happening. Apparently we were wiping out too many hippies driving through there. I swear I wasn't aiming for them....really.

[CPT Clay]

Thanks, Ive been there several times.