Rio Grande Valley State Park, Natural park along Rio Grande in Albuquerque, US

Rio Grande Valley State Park covers 4,300 acres along both banks of the Rio Grande, from Sandia Pueblo south to Isleta Pueblo. Its bosque, the floodplain cottonwood forest, lines a dirt path of packed reddish-brown earth marked by wheel ruts and loose stones, with tree branches meeting overhead.

Rio Grande Valley State Park was established in 1983. It is not run by a single state agency: local, state and federal bodies, along with other organizations, manage different sections of the 4,300 acres that run along both banks of the Rio Grande from Sandia Pueblo in the north to Isleta Pueblo in the south.

Bosque is the local Spanish term for the cottonwood floodplain forest along the Rio Grande. The Paseo del Bosque Trail, built in the 1970s, links picnic areas, the Rio Grande Nature Center State Park, the Albuquerque Biological Park and the National Hispanic Cultural Center, so one walk or ride passes several sites.

Access points along the corridor offer parking, designated picnic areas, vault toilets and trash receptacles. The main Paseo del Bosque Trail is paved, while the Corrales Bosque segment has a parallel dirt ditchbank trail linked by short cross trails. Thorny plants on side trails can puncture bicycle tires and hiking shoes. Dogs must be leashed and under direct control.

The 16-mile paved Paseo del Bosque Trail connects several recreational zones and ranks among the finest cycling paths in the Western United States.