The small mining town of Graham, New Mexico was founded in 1893 to mine silver and gold ore. To obtain the water required a pipeline was built up the narrow canyon, with a wooden walkway built on top for workers to be able to traverse the path.
Known as the Catwalk, this was in place for the 10-15 years that the town and mine was in existence. In the 1930s the WPA effort known as the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) rebuilt the catwalk for recreational purposes.
In 2012 this catwalk was destroyed in a large flood, leading to the rebuilding of the current Catwalk. It is a great engineering feat as well as a nice, shady hike up the canyon hovering above the creek.
The creek below is a favorite spot for people to cool off from the hot New Mexico summer.
As you proceed up the canyon you begin to run out of catwalks and have a small creek crossing.
Eventually you go as far as the trail will allow, as the rest of the trail has been damaged by storms, so it was time to turn back.
The entire area is very beautiful, and the Catwalks is a required stop.
RDZ Photography 
In Big Bend Ranch State Park in Texas, there is a trail called the Closed Canyon trail. You can hike through a narrow canyon that leads down to the Rio Grande. It gets progressively rockier the farther you go and you can’t actually get to the river without some rock climbing gear and skill. But it is a nice cool hike on a summer day.
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