[7] Below Abiquiu Dam the Rio Chama flows generally east, skirting the edge of Carson National Forest.

[7] The Rio Chama has been used by humans for nearly 10,000 years, dating from the time when camels and Columbian mammoths roamed the southwestern United States.

The upper river is characterized by huge boulders that create difficult holes, sizeable drops and hidden/sunken driftwood that test experienced whitewater boaters.

The rest of this run can be made by canoeists and kayakers with at least strong intermediate level whitewater skills on Class I to III water that drops through deep canyons on its way to the lake.

Below El Vado Lake the river is a Class II to III run for almost anybody with intermediate or higher level whitewater skills.

[11] The Rio Chama at this point holds wild browns with cutthroats in Wolf Creek and rainbows in both streams.

The bedrock of Chama Canyon is shale, basalt, tuft, sandstone, granite, quartzite and other types of rocks, some of which formed about 110 million years ago.

"[10] The Chama Valley is home to dense stands of ponderosa pine, douglas-fir, pinyon, juniper, mountain mahogany, gambel oak, and serviceberry.

The riparian area also includes cottonwoods, box elder, willows, hackberry and numerous shrubs that are indigenous to north-central New Mexico.

It is teeming with a variety of wildlife including cougars, black bears, elk, mule deer, badgers, bobcats, coyotes, beavers, raccoons, ducks, dippers, spotted sandpipers, Canada geese, turkey, golden eagles, bald eagles, falcons, hawks, owls, turkey vultures, brown and rainbow trout, flathead chub, flathead minnows, white suckers, carp, channel catfish, black crappie, longnose dace, and other species of mammals, birds and fish.