A week or so ago, we took a look at the early days of the Paseo del Bosque Trail and its initial stretch of about five miles from Central Ave. north to Candelaria/Nature Center built back in 1977. But what led up to the building of that first stretch and why is there a “Rio Grande Valley State Park” (RGVSP) housing the Trail and other amenities along the river?

Those are excellent questions, yet ones not considered much, I’d imagine, by folks using the trail today. As cyclists, walkers and non-motorized rollers, we kinda just take Paseo del Bosque for granted. But did you know that the original plans, the feasibility study toward development of RGVSP way back in 1969 centered its recommendations around this?

Here’s description of the “Scenic Drive” from the 1969 plan (photo of text from book below)…

“It is proposed that a system of scenic roads be established as the backbone development of the State Park. For the most part, these roads should be built atop the existing flood-control levees, which should be widered for the purpose. The roads would provide attractive, interesting views of the forests and vegetation in the river bed, of the river itself, or rural countryside near the levees, and of the distant mountains and mesas. The roads as proposed would take advantage of the more attractive areas along the river, while avoiding those that are less attractive and desirable.

The greater part of the scenic drive system would follow the river closely, though some parts of it would like through the floodplains or over the mesa country at short distances from the river. Thus there would be a pleasing variety, and the scenic drive would help meet the needs for pleasure driving, which is the leading outdoor recreation activity in the nation.

The system should consist of approximately 58.6 miles of newly constructed roads, and about 74.1 miles of specifically designated existing roads. As shown on the map, the system would provide a continuous drive from Cochiti Dam to Belen.”

As the mentioned map doesn’t detail things very well, here’s the “Road Log” for the proposed “continuous drive.”

The 1969 Plan, commissioned by the State Legislature through House Bill 36 in 1968, also proposed a number of tourist attractions and public nature viewing spots along the “continuous drive,” including a shooting range on the river’s western banks near where I-40 is today:

And several car camping areas nestled right there in the bosque along the “continuous drive.”

Dear and dearly appreciated BB readers might be thinking/asking along with their general horror at the proposals/images above…”But what about the Paseo del Bosque Trail? What about walking and non-motorized rolling along the River?”

Well…

Let me type part of this section out and post it and more from the Plan below:

“It has been suggested that bicycle trails, or ‘bikeways,’ would be appropriate features of the proposed State Park. And certainly they would (Plan author emphasis) be appropriate, compatible features, just as bicycling would be an appropriate activity. However, the report has not specifically proposed bikeways as part of the State Park, for two reasons: First, there appears too relatively little demand for this type of facility at the present time, and second–more important–it is believe that those who would use the bikeways would be mostly persons who live near the river in the Albuquerque vicinity. Therefore, it is felt that bikeways should more properly be provided by the City of Albuquerque than by the state. It is suggested that bikeways be constructed in connection with farther partk developments along the Rio Grande between River Parkway and the Barelas Bridge, and that they also be extended into Old Town and CBD (Central Business District) area. In this regard, perhaps trail development should be considered by the city not only as a recreational matter but as part of the total urban transportation system.”

“These recommendations are based on the premise that bikeways along the river would probably be used largely by residents of the immediate vicinity. This is because the casual bike rider from elsewhere in Albuquerque or its suburbs would not come to use the bikeway; by the time he peddled his way to the bikeway, he would have had his ride, over the streets which he was trying to get away from in the first place. (BB emphasis)“

For now, let’s close with an observation or three before diving more deeply into Observation #3 below in future posts:

1. As is almost always the case when looking back in history, the initial response regarding proposals that do not end becoming reality is to first laugh, then exclaim: “Man, that was a stupid idea! How the hell did they come up with such a stupid idea?!?” There is also the rare case where the reaction is: “What a great idea! Why didn’t we do that?!?” Interestingly, these cases are very rare because good ideas are: A. Hard to Find; B. Tend to be enacted when found. There are notable exceptions.
2. Despite the attraction of this initial response, and it is quite attractive to just laugh and exclaim, the really important/helpful reaction is to gain insight (i.e., learn) from the stupid proposal into what reasonable, learned people thought back in those days. E.g., “Scenic Drive” made all the sense in the world to many folks back then, and we’ll add context to that sensibility in future posts when we bring up things like the City (and County) Dump being placed directy alongside the Rio Grande “back in the day.”
3. And here’s the one we’re centering this blog series on: How did we get from the sensibility and proposals of the 1969 Plan to zero components of that Plan’s proposed “Scenic Drive” and instead miles and miles of Paseo del Bosque Trail running not just through the City but also County?

More about that coming up pretty much just as soon as I find answers to Observation #3 myself. Thanks now and in development of future posts to Janet Saiers from the Albuquerque Historical Society and a bunch of other folks with whom she is connecting me.