{"id":21912,"date":"2026-01-23T01:00:01","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T08:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/?p=21912"},"modified":"2026-01-22T22:57:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T05:57:10","slug":"riding-around-rt-66-open-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2026\/01\/23\/riding-around-rt-66-open-space\/","title":{"rendered":"Riding Around: Rt 66 Open Space"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Patty Wilber<\/em><\/p>\n

We are supposed to get hit with a snowstorm this weekend<\/strong>, 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.\u00a0 It provides access to the Rt. 66 and\u00a0 4 Hills\/ Manzano Open spaces owned by the City of Albuquerque.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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The open spaces in question.<\/p><\/div>\n

I used to ride in that area<\/strong> 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.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

Then a church bought the feed store and cut off all access.<\/strong>\u00a0 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.\u00a0 This spot was not big enough for a BCH ride, but fine for several private trailers.<\/p>\n

Albuquerque bought the feed store-turned-church site,<\/strong> 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<\/a>” which only operated from 1961 to 1963.<\/p>\n

The Rt 66. Open Space parking area<\/strong> is fantastic and definitely a better choice for the public than the old feed store location because there is a lot more room.<\/p>\n

There is an area set aside<\/strong> for horse trailers that has plenty of space to pull in and turn around. There is a large car area, as well.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Great parking for horse trailers!<\/p><\/div>\n

I could not figure out the total acreage of the area,<\/strong> but there’s enough land to make for a good couple hours of riding. The footing is sandy\/decomposed gravel.\u00a0 There was a bit of water in Tijeras Creek last time I went, near the trailhead.\u00a0 I did not ride over to the spot I used years ago, which always had water.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

\"\"

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.<\/p><\/div>\n

We started on one of the new trails<\/strong> 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.\u00a0 But we saw some mule deer, which was fun.\u00a0 I have white-tails up the road, at my house.<\/p>\n

We are expecting 7 to 14 inches of heavy snow,<\/strong> 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!<\/p>\n

I sure appreciate the City of Albuquerqu<\/strong>e 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.<\/p>\n

Our trip to the Ride Out Ranch<\/strong> in Arizona was lovely–more on that next week!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[59,89,100,23,158],"class_list":["post-21912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-miscellaneous","tag-adventures","tag-horses","tag-new-mexico","tag-riding","tag-the-write-horse"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb2lc3-5Hq","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":21906,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2026\/01\/16\/the-surprise-award\/","url_meta":{"origin":21912,"position":0},"title":"The Surprise Award!","author":"BlogPatty","date":"2601.16","format":false,"excerpt":"By Patty Wilber I got a text from my long-time friend and client, Cheryl Pozzi: \"Hey. This is somewhat of a surprise, but I need you to be available for a Zoom call this Monday at 7 PM. I'll send you the link.\" I am thinking: \"That sounds odd. Kind\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Write Horse"","block_context":{"text":"The Write Horse","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/the-write-horse\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20251206_110413-scaled-e1765690213723.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20251206_110413-scaled-e1765690213723.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20251206_110413-scaled-e1765690213723.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11309,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2014\/09\/26\/golden-open-space\/","url_meta":{"origin":21912,"position":1},"title":"Golden Open Space","author":"BlogPatty","date":"1409.26","format":false,"excerpt":"By Patty Wilber It sure can be difficult to make time to\u00a0do things for fun, but it is usually worth it. \u00a0Especially if it involves riding with friends! For this adventure, Linda and Mary Anne said we should go to the Golden Open Space. This area was acquired by the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Write Horse"","block_context":{"text":"The Write Horse","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/the-write-horse\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/IMG_0402-150x112.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/IMG_0402-150x112.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/IMG_0402-150x112.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/IMG_0402-150x112.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/IMG_0402-150x112.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/IMG_0402-150x112.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13740,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2016\/09\/02\/scoring-quandary\/","url_meta":{"origin":21912,"position":2},"title":"Scoring Quandary!","author":"BlogPatty","date":"1609.02","format":false,"excerpt":"By Patty Wilber I have been stewing over the best way to write the scoring rules\u00a0for\u00a0a horse event, and based on input from lots of folks, thought I had come up with a good scheme...but then I got a comment from a trainer down south suggesting a\u00a0perspective I hadn't considered,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Write Horse"","block_context":{"text":"The Write Horse","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/the-write-horse\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12061,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2015\/03\/13\/the-48-contiguous-states\/","url_meta":{"origin":21912,"position":3},"title":"The Contiguous 48","author":"BlogPatty","date":"1503.13","format":false,"excerpt":"By Patty Wilber Last weekend we were lucky to have the chance to be a Way Station for\u00a0Mary Everhart and Donna\u00a0Hurst\u00a0as they were heading \u00a0home to Delaware from this leg of Mary's Epic Adventure. \u00a0Her goal is to ride her own horse in every one of the \u00a0lower 48 states\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Write Horse"","block_context":{"text":"The Write Horse","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/the-write-horse\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Me, Mary and Donna","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/2015-03-09-Water-delaware-039-276x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13723,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2016\/08\/26\/grateful\/","url_meta":{"origin":21912,"position":4},"title":"Grateful","author":"BlogPatty","date":"1608.26","format":false,"excerpt":"By Patty Wilber On Thursday, I did a workshop at Central New Mexico Community College that covered marginalized persons and how to be a Safe Zone for these students, and I also got some news about a friend that broke my heart for her. 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