Jemez Soda Dam — Attraction in Los Alamos

Enjoyed taking my family to this place to explore the cave and rock formations. The parking was easy as it wasn't too crowed. We just had to cross the busy road. With kids and older folks, be careful as traffic moves fast. The overall geologic formation was very interesting. The passage up into the cave is somewhat difficult to manage if it is wet, as it was for us. There are no railings, so slipping could result in falling several to 10 feet. I was worried for my teenage kids and assisted then especially exiting. The sodium smell is strong outside the cave. The green glow on the walls from moss and deposits is super cool. The heat from the underground hot spring could be felt a little at the deepest part of the cave. However, the water coming from underneath (outside and below) was pretty cool to the touch. Several people ventured into the rushing water gushing from beneath the dam. We watched them wobble around as their shoes got kinda stuck in the loose sediment/mud. It had rained a lot that week, so maybe it cooled the warming effect...

Super easy to access and definitely worth a quick stop if you’re in the area. The natural sodium carbonate dam is truly unique—unlike anything we’d seen before. You can spot what looks like the remains of a former hot spring, though we didn’t cross the river to explore it up close.

If you’re into bouldering or light caving, this could be a really fun spot to check out with some interesting rock formations and small caves.

It’s just 5 minutes from Battleship Rock (also very scenic) and about 10 minutes from two different hikes that lead to natural hot springs, so it fits in perfectly as part of a day trip. I wouldn’t make the trip just to see the dam on its own, but as part of our day up from Santa Fe, it was...

Amazing history and memories are carved into the walls here. I suggest going with someone who is local, who has grown up here all of their life. The family members that we were with told us what it was like when the original trains and horses and wagons pulled lumber and supplies through. When there were still battles between the native Tribes and the settlers. We could see where one of the other would sit and wait for the other to come around a curve to ambush them from a flat high ground that had a natural rock formation that hid them from below. It was amazing and awe inspiring. I desperately want to go to where my great grandparents got married in Eastern Europe. My...