| Rio Hondo | |
| Name Etymology: | Spanish for "deep river." |
| Map Size: | 300 |
| Pushpin Map: | USA New Mexico |
| Pushpin Map Size: | 300 |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of the mouth of the Rio Hondo in New Mexico |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | United States |
| Subdivision Type2: | State |
| Subdivision Name2: | New Mexico |
| Subdivision Type4: | County |
| Subdivision Name4: | Taos |
| Length: | 20miles |
| Source1: | Above Taos Ski Valley |
| Source1 Location: | Taos Mountains |
| Source1 Coordinates: | 36.6111°N -105.4283°W |
| Source1 Elevation: | 10840feet[1] |
| Mouth: | Rio Grande |
| Mouth Location: | Rio Grande Gorge |
| Mouth Coordinates: | 36.5364°N -105.6603°W |
| Mouth Elevation: | 6840feet |
The Rio Hondo is a river in northern New Mexico. A left tributary of the Rio Grande, it flows approximately 20miles from its headwaters high in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains near Wheeler Peak and the Taos Ski Valley to its discharge in the Rio Grande Gorge just west of the community of Arroyo Hondo. Portions of the Rio Hondo are prized as prime spots for bird-watching and fishing.[2] The river was the subject of a 2005 study by the New Mexico Environment Department Surface Water Quality Bureau into the effects of wastewater from Taos Ski Valley, which is discharged from the Village of Taos Ski Valley Waste Water Treatment Plant.[3]
In Spanish, Río Hondo means "deep river".[4]