Cañon
Tapia
ACA Canyon
Rating – 1A III
This canyon
is closed during Native American Ceremonies
NEVER ENTER ANY
SLOT CANYON WHEN HEAVY RAIN IS IN THE FORCAST…!!!
KD and CT have SCARED an AMAZING PUBLIC
TREASURE…!!! This thoughtless graffiti
is engraved directly upon Tapia Canyon Natural Bridge that is shown below…What if Everyone
did this…???
Tapia Canyon Natural Bridge is over 60’
wide by about 25’ high. Behind it is a
wonderful slot canyon. The natural
bridge and the slot canyon are both at the mouth of a tributary to Tapia
Canyon.
The photo below shows the tributary side of
the natural bridge
…Below is the view looking out of the slot
canyon to the natural bridge seen thru the opening
There are many slot canyons throughout the
entire length of Tapia Canyon… mostly in the tributaries while Tapia Canyon is
more of a sheer-wall, box canyon
Tapia Arch, shown below is maybe 20’ high
and 10’ wide. It is about a mile
downstream from the natural bridge.
…below is a “conclave” in the sandstone
wall and a 60’ high spire found up a southern tributary about a mile above the
parking area
This last photo below is of a slot canyon
tributary to the north, only a few hundred yards from your parked wheels
David Roybal
friend
beta facts:
name- Cañon Tapia
depth of slot portion- average of roughly 40’ to
80’ feet
length of canyon- from vehicle parking to the
extreme upper end of the Canon Puente Slot Canyon is about seven miles
elevation- 6550’at the top of Puente Slot down to 5950’at
the parking area
GPS coordinates- ±35°27.569’N 107°13.166’W at the top of Puente Slot and ±35°30.363’N 107°08.956’W at the lower end parking area
flow- occasional intermittent seeps
accommodations- None
ownership- it is checker-board mostly BLM
with some private, and some Indian Lands… and even Cibola National Forest at
the upper end of Canon Puente
access- is from Road #279… see the map below
nearest town- none
fun fact- the checker-board ownership throws a curve-ball
into the works…ah…er…whose land am I walking
on…??? This is a controversial place
essay bro
Cañon Tapia in English is Tapia Canyon. Tapia is a Spanish sir-name. Tapia Canyon is special. The photos and the beta above, along with the
map below tell the story of this controversial and “hard to find” place.
Right-click-save-as to
print yourself a hard-copy of our map below.
Click here to see a more detailed and larger map of this area
Enhanced USGS topo map
The Red Lines depict
sections of “slot canyons” The shaded green
is Cibola National Forest The shaded grey is private land The shaded cream color below is BIA
land the rest is BLM 
Back to New Mexico
Slot Canyons
Send questions and comments to dscott@themarblesculptor.com