The Rio Grande, a true American river, is the second largest river system in the country. Of its over 1,800 total miles, some 700 miles of the Rio Grande form the heart of New Mexico—the primary drainage feature and the state’s most valuable natural and cultural resource. The Rio Grande is a precious lifeline that connects nature, history, culture and communities across millennia.
The Rio Grande has sustained nature and culture systems for thousands of years. Today, its waters provide for human consumption, agriculture, natural ecosystems, cultural and religious purposes, and other uses. The Rio Grande is a linchpin in the future of New Mexico, even as demands and stresses on the river grow.
One relatively newer use and benefit from the Rio Grande is recreation. The river and its bosque attract and sustain a wide variety of recreation—from hunting and fishing to river rafting to hiking, biking, and horseback riding. In many ways, human recreation in the river corridor also provides a vital connection to experiencing and appreciating the river, and educating the public about its past, present, and future.
The 2004 Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (SCORP) identified trails as the #1 recreation priority for the public in New Mexico. The National Survey on Recreation and the Environment, the most comprehensive survey of its kind, also identified trail/street/road activities as the most popular recreational pursuit nationwide.
Trails can be a great component of community tourism, economic development, conservation, and health/fitness strategies. Long distance trails across the country are proving increasingly popular and are becoming destinations in and of themselves. Completing a publicly accessible multi-use trail along the Rio Grande would be truly visionary and would give New Mexico one of the longest (and flattest!) multi-use trails in the United States.
Governor Bill Richardson and New Mexico State Parks, which administers the State Trails System Act, proposed the establishment of such a trail, which would roughly parallel the Rio Grande. The basic infrastructure of the trail already exists in many locations via the levee systems and informal trail networks of the irrigation districts, and on some publicly owned land. The New Mexico Legislature provided funding in FY06 to begin planning and development of the project.
A multi-use trail along the Rio Grande has the potential to replicate successful long-distance trails in other states. Trails increase opportunities for healthy living and create a sense of community in the areas through which they pass. Long-distance trails often serve locally as venues for community activities, fundraisers and other special events, while long-distance trail users in need of supplies, lodging and food boost riverside community economies. Trails that connect schools, businesses and parks provide environmentally friendly alternative transportation and offer increased fitness opportunities. Trails that follow waterways can easily provide fishing and boating access as well as a parallel water trail for canoes and kayaks. Finally, trail-based interpretation efforts could reconnect the public to the significance of the river and go hand in hand with the restoration, protection and beautification of the riparian corridor.
The 16-mile bosque trail along the Rio Grande in the Albuquerque area has been successfully serving local residents and visitors for many years. The Mid-Region Council of Governments (MRCOG) is taking the lead to extend the existing bosque trail in Albuquerque north to Bernalillo and south to Belen. Extending this trail north and south from Albuquerque will result in about 40 miles of high-quality Rio Grande Trail. In October 2005, State Parks entered into a $3 million contractual agreement with the MRCOG. Preliminary route/design studies, plus several pilot trail construction projects will likely result from this agreement.
State Parks is beginning now to identify trail development opportunities both in and between state parks along the southern portion of the river and on public lands in Taos Co. State Parks owns land at seven different places along the southern section of the Rio Grande (from Elephant Butte to Las Cruces). The trail will ultimately link all these sites and tie into the new Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park in Las Cruces. Communities in southern New Mexico, such as in Dona Ana County, are already actively pushing trail planning and development locally.
If the Rio Grande Trail project is to succeed, it will require a multi-year effort and tremendous partnerships among local, state, federal entities, citizens, and the private sector. Numerous issues, such as routes, access points, trail design, trail construction, trail maintenance, funding, and liability must be resolved. Planning is ongoing with trail construction likely to start in late 2009 or early 2010.
For further information contact: David Certain, State Trails Coordinator at 505.827.1476 or DavidL.Certain@state.nm.us
Corridor Map
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