La Mesita: Introduction to a High Desert Threshold
- PJ Westwood
- Feb 4
- 2 min read
Located along Highway 68 between Santa Fe and Taos, La Mesita rises as a stand‑alone mesa on the east rim of the Rio Grande Gorge. It forms the backdrop to Gallery Emboscada and marks the point where the Gorge opens into the Española Valley.
Rising nearly 1,200 feet from its base along the valley floor to the summit, La Mesita carries a full sweep of high desert terrain. From the orchards, thickets, and cottonwood stands at the bottom to the open piñon woodlands scattered among massive boulder fields near the top, the mesa displays the defining transitions of the Northern New Mexico high desert.
Approaching La Mesita from Gallery Emboscada, the orchards and the thickets of wild plum along the acequia give way to stands of cottonwood. As the path turns up Arroyo Jacinto, these lowland textures fall behind and the terrain shifts into true high desert—piñon, sage, stone, and the first scattered boulder fields that mark the rise toward the mesa.
Ascending the west rim, Gallery Emboscada comes into view below. The rim widens here, and the rock marked with a cross appears — a familiar landmark on this side of Arroyo Jacinto, and the point where the mesa’s upper slopes begin to show their scale.
Further up the west rim, the view opens and the scale of northern New Mexico reveals itself. The distant cut of the Gorge comes into sight, along with the long west rim of the Rio Grande Gorge stretching north toward the upper valley and Taos.
As the climb continues, the sense of time begins to fade and the finer details of the landscape emerge — stone, lichen, and the long ridgelines stretching north.
Following the west rim of the arroyo has led us not to the top, but to a broad shelf just below the east rim of the Rio Grande Gorge. From here, the vast beauty and grand solitude of northern New Mexico is unmistakable — and the full presence of La Mesita reveals itself as the spectacular treasure it is.
For those who want to see the land in motion, here’s a short video from the shelf below the west rim. "A New Mexico Hike"
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