Hiking in Rio Grande Valley State Park: trails, map and practical info

The Rio Grande Valley State Park is a park located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, established in 1983. The park contains 4,300 acres (17 km2) of land along the Rio Grande from the Sandia Pueblo south to the Isleta Pueblo, consisting primarily of floodplain cottonwood forest (locally known as bosque), the Rio Grande, and wetlands. The Paseo del Bosque Trail is a 16 mile paved pedestrian/bicycle/equestrian trail parallel to the Rio Grande. Constructed in the 1970s, it runs between the north and south edges of the metro area of Albuquerque, in the bosque on the east side of the river, and connects several picnic areas, the Rio Grande Valley State Park, the Rio Grande Nature Center State Park, the Albuquerque Biological Park, and the National Hispanic Cultural Center. The trail has been named one of the "best bike trails in the West" by Sunset Magazine. It is also a popular equestrian trail, with trailhead parking adequate for horse trailers. In the North Valley, on the west side of the connecting Los Ranchos open space just north of Paseo del Norte, is a feed store, a rare welcome for through-travelers on horseback. The main trail is paved, and in the Corrales Bosque segment there is a parallel ditchbank dirt trail, these two trails connected by many short cross trails. Some bicycle riders like to ride very fast here, noting the fun of tight blind curves, while others note that this is not safe. Some plants here have thorns that will puncture bicycle tires and sometimes also hiking shoes. These are most abundant on side trails. The trail is the nucleus of the proposed Rio Grande Trail.