Tijeras Canyon (sometimes also referred to as Tijeras Pass) is a prominent canyon in the central part of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

. It separates the

Sandia Mountains The Sandia Mountains (Southern Tiwa: ''Posu gai hoo-oo'', Keres: ''Tsepe,'' Navajo: ''Dził Nááyisí''; Tewa: ''O:ku:p’į'', Northern Tiwa: ''Kep’íanenemą''; Towa: ''Kiutawe'', Zuni: ''Chibiya Yalanne'') are a mountain range located in ...

subrange to the north from the

Manzano Mountains The Manzano Mountains are a small mountain range in the central part of the US State of New Mexico. They are oriented north–south and are 30 miles long. The center of the range lies due east of the town of Belen. The name "Manzano" is Spani ...

subrange (specifically the lower "Manzanitas" subrange) to the south. These subranges are part of the larger

Sandia–Manzano Mountains The Sandia–Manzano Mountains are a substantial mountain area that defines the eastern edge of the middle Rio Grande valley of central New Mexico. They are not only an attractive backdrop to greater Albuquerque, the largest metropolitan area in ...

; Tijeras Canyon forms a

pass Pass, PASS, The Pass or Passed may refer to: Places * Pass, County Meath, a townland in Ireland * Pass, Poland, a village in Poland * Pass, an alternate term for a number of straits: see List of straits * Mountain pass, a lower place in a moun ...

through this range. Elevations along the bottom of the canyon range from to above sea level.Tijeras Canyon on TopoQuest
/ref> The canyon drains to the west, into a large dry wash known as Tijeras Arroyo, which runs through

Kirtland Air Force Base Kirtland Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in the southeast quadrant of the Albuquerque, New Mexico urban area, adjacent to the Albuquerque International Sunport. The base was named for the early Army aviator Col. Roy ...

, passes just south of the

Albuquerque International Airport Albuquerque International Sunport is the primary international airport serving the U.S. state of New Mexico, the Albuquerque metropolitan area, and the larger Albuquerque– Santa Fe–Las Vegas combined statistical area. It handles around 5 ...

, and then joins the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...

. The arroyo heads at the historically important pass (approximately ),Tijeras 'Pass' on GeoCommunicator
/ref> and this pass and the entire canyon are traversed by

Interstate 40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west Interstate Highway running through the south-central portion of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80. From west to ea ...

, following the path of historic

U.S. Route 66 U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) was one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The h ...

. (Route 66 originally passed through Santa Fe and entered Albuquerque from the North. In 1937 Governor Arthur Hannett re-routed the road away from Santa Fe and through Tijeras Canyon as revenge on politicians who he perceived had thwarted his re-election.Mike Smith, ''Towns of the Sandia Mountains'', Arcadia Publishing, 2006, .) A

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

, the

Albuquerque Eastern Railway The Albuquerque Eastern Railway, sometimes called the Albuquerque Eastern Railroad, was chartered July 22, 1901, by the same parties interested in the Santa Fe Central Railway which was completed in 1903 between a rail junction at Torrance, New ...

, was proposed to run through the Canyon in 1901, connecting to the New Mexico Central at Moriarity, with a branch to the coalfields around

Hagan Hagan may refer to: __NOTOC__ Places Iran * Hagan, Iran, a village in Hamadan Province Norway * Hagan, a village in Harstad * Hagan, a village in Akershus United States * Hagan, Georgia, a city * Hagan, Minnesota, an unincorporated community * ...

. Some grading for the trackbed was done (still visible at places near the western mouth) but tracks were never laid in the canyon, and the project was abandoned in 1908. The name ''Tijeras'' means "scissors" in Spanish, and the name is said to come from the junction of two tributary canyons, or perhaps of two roads.Robert Julyan, ''The Place Names of New Mexico'' (Revised Edition), University of New Mexico Press, 1998, The name is most properly applied only to the small village, Tijeras, at the junction, as the original name of the canyon was ''Cañon de Carnué''. However the name ''Tijeras'' is now almost universally applied to the canyon. The original inhabitants of the canyon were

Pueblo people The Puebloans or Pueblo peoples, are Native Americans in the Southwestern United States who share common agricultural, material, and religious practices. Currently 100 pueblos are actively inhabited, among which Taos, San Ildefonso, Acoma, Zun ...

, occupying ''Tijeras Pueblo'' near the site of the present-day town of Tijeras, but the site has long been deserted. The largest employer in the Canyon is a

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mix ...

plant which opened in the late 1950s. Its buildings and excavations dominate the portion of the canyon and surrounding hills southwest of the town of Tijeras. In 1950, the Tijeras Canyon job was the largest road project ever let in the State of New Mexico. It also carried the honor of being the first U. S. Route 66 four-lane divided highway built in New Mexico. Skousen, Isbell & Johnston Contracting Company was awarded the contract. The job reached completion in 1951. The project extended from Albuquerque's eastern city limits to roughly a mile east of Tijeras.

References

External links

{{New Mexico Canyons and gorges of New Mexico Landforms of Bernalillo County, New Mexico Mountain passes of New Mexico