LOCKED IN TIME
The life of Embudo Station Restaurant
or years it has sat on the side of State Road 68, just south of Taos. At times it has tempted passers-by with its promise of relaxation on the banks of the Río Grande, at other times it has sat vacant, a tribute to better days.
It was the Embudo Station Restaurant. Now it is simply a 5 1/2 -acre property with five residential structures and three apartments, river access, a concrete bridge over the Río Grande, a mountain of old signs (“For Sale” and otherwise) at its entrance, and a heap of potential. But that has always been the case for the picturesque property with its on-again-off-again history as a restaurant and commercial property.
The history of the station property and the surrounding community is long, but quiet. Embudo was founded in 1881 as a station along the old Chili Line railroad from Santa Fe to Antonito, Colorado. Later, it became the site of the first United States Geological Survey (USGS) stream-gauging station. It also became the first USGC hydrographer training center.
In 1979, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Over its nearly 150-year history, the property has fluctuated between a bustling town center (relatively) with a popular restaurant nestled on the banks of the Río Grande, to a vacant set of forgotten buildings littering the side of the highway. BUT, there are a number of interesting points about this particular area, according to property owner, Preston Cox.
“Embudo Station is near the bottom of the ‘wild and scenic’ section of the Río Grande,” Cox says in an email. “This means that the possibility of future river development is certainly limited
by the Federal government. Even the mine in Questa would have a hard time opening because of strict standards. The property
behind Embudo Station is all [Bureau of Land Management]. The prospect of future development is virtually none.”
More to that point, the riparian zone – or the area along the banks of a river – of the Río Grande is one of the most protected riparian zones in the country due to its importance as a migration spot for endangered birds. That means commercial development along the Río Grande in New Mexico is rare. But Embudo Station is different.