By Patty Wilber
We are supposed to get hit with a snowstorm this weekend, and that will put a damper, as it were, on trail riding opportunities at higher elevations, but just 15 minutes down the hill from where I live, is the Rt. 66 Open Space Trailhead. It provides access to the Rt. 66 and 4 Hills/ Manzano Open spaces owned by the City of Albuquerque.
The open spaces in question.
I used to ride in that area when the feed store was there because they were really welcoming to horse folks and allowed parking and access to the open space behind them. It was a good place to do a little water crossing practice, as Tijeras Creek is right there and often had some water. We did Back Country Horsemen training rides there, too.
Then a church bought the feed store and cut off all access. I always thought that was ironic. But with that closed off, we had to resort to parking at a wide pull-off on Old 66. This spot was not big enough for a BCH ride, but fine for several private trailers.
Albuquerque bought the feed store-turned-church site, and I was hopeful that access would be restored there, but instead, the City put in the Rt. 66 Open Space trailhead nearby on the site of an old tourist attraction called “Little Beaver Town” which only operated from 1961 to 1963.
The Rt 66. Open Space parking area is fantastic and definitely a better choice for the public than the old feed store location because there is a lot more room.
There is an area set aside for horse trailers that has plenty of space to pull in and turn around. There is a large car area, as well. Hopefully, the car people will park in the car area and not gobble up all the horse trailer parking like they do down at Alameda by the river. Just saying.
Great parking for horse trailers!
I could not figure out the total acreage of the area, but there’s enough land to make for a good couple hours of riding. The footing is sandy/decomposed gravel. There was a bit of water in Tijeras Creek last time I went, near the trailhead. I did not ride over to the spot I used years ago, which always had water. There are sandy arroyos (I’ve had horses try to roll in those), and you can also climb up quite a ways. There are newly built and signed trails, too.
Mary Ann and Rosebud on one of the new trails. You can see trucks on I-40 in the background, and the parking area is near I-40. You can climb a lot higher than this.
We started on one of the new trails but then took a branch onto an old road, which dead-ended, so we, as usual, had to bushwack up a steep hill through cholla and yucca and prickly pear to regain the trail we wanted. But we saw some mule deer, which was fun. I have white-tails up the road, at my house.
We are expecting 7 to 14 inches of heavy snow, whereas Albuquerque is expecting rain and only about an inch! This spot is so close to me, but a whole different climate! Yup, I might be hauling to town to ride in a few days!
I sure appreciate the City of Albuquerque and all the open space areas it has! There is even one that I can ride to, right from my house, but that is another story.
Our trip to the Ride Out Ranch in Arizona was lovely–more on that next week!
Great information to put out on the open space since I didn’t know the new parking area accommodated trailers.
Thanks