The Río Grande Wild and Scenic River, located within the Río Grande del Norte National Monument, includes 74 miles of the river as it passes through the 800-foot deep Río Grande Gorge. Flowing out of the snowcapped Rocky Mountains in Colorado, the river journeys 1,900 miles to the Gulf of Mexico. Here the river flows in a rugged and scenic part of northern New Mexico. The river was made a part of the National Wild and Scenic River System in 1968; among the first eight rivers Congress designated as Wild and Scenic. The river gorge is home to numerous species of wildlife, including big horn sheep, river otter, and the Río Grande cutthroat trout.