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18 RIO BRAVO: STILL A LITTLE CRAZY
BOUNDARIES: Rio Bravo Blvd., Rio Bravo Riverside Picnic Area, 2nd St.
DISTANCE: 4 miles
DIFFICULTY: Moderate (unpaved sections)
PARKING: Parking lot closes at 9 p.m. April–October, 7 p.m. November–March
PUBLIC TRANSIT: ABQ Ride 51 westbound stops on Rio Bravo Blvd. west of 2nd St. Rail Runner stops on 2nd St. north of Rio Bravo Blvd.
Wedged between the natural splendor of the Rio Grande Valley State Park and the industrial gloom of 2nd St. are more than 126 acres of agricultural land poised for residential development. If the description so far sounds less than enticing, then take a moment to assess your options at the Rio Bravo Riverside Picnic Area parking lot: To the west, a fully accessible nature trail leads to picnic sites and continues in a quarter-mile loop that visits the edge of the Rio Grande. To the north, wood fences mark a trail that winds beneath a canopy of majestic cottonwoods. Informal paths split from the main trail and weave deeper into the bosque. To the south, numerous paths squeak beneath the Rio Bravo bridge, allowing further exploration of these wooded banks. And to the east is Poco Loco Frontage Road, the beginning (and end) of a search for remnants of a vanishing past.
Start by walking east from the gravel parking lot, the way you came in. Just beyond the gate, a dirt road runs north along the west bank of the Albuquerque Riverside Drain. Perched over this narrow canal is a fully accessible fishing pier—a popular spot to angle for rainbow trout.
Cross the drain and turn north on Paseo del Bosque, a paved multiuse trail on the east side of the Albuquerque Riverside Drain. Two nearby signs identify it as “Riverside Trail” and, to compound confusion, “Bridge Blvd. to 2nd St.” (To clarify, this section runs from Rio Bravo Blvd. to Bridge Blvd.) Yet another sign welcomes you to Dr. John A. Aragón Bosque Park. The namesake doctor was a pioneer of multicultural education at the University of New Mexico and served as president of New Mexico Highlands Universityfrom 1975 to 1985.
Back Story: Camp Albuquerque More than 425,000 German POWs were shipped to the United States during World War II. Many stayed in camps in El Paso, Lordsburg, and Roswell. Some were destined to be housed in Civilian Conservation Corps buildings in Rio Grande Park, north of what is now the Rio Grande Zoo, but Albuquerque citizens vehemently opposed the idea. So in 1943 Camp Albuquerque received a shipment of Mussolini’s men instead, and nobody complained. Then one day in July 1944, it was all gone. The Italians were transferred to undisclosed locations. The barracks came down, only to reappear on an 8-acre plot down by the slaughterhouse on the south edge of town. The first to arrive at the Schwartzman iteration of Camp Albuquerque were German soldiers captured in North Africa and trucked up from Camp Roswell. Demands for both food and farm labor had already escalated to critical limits, so the Germans worked farms in a 40-mile span from Corrales to Los Lunas, receiving 80 cents per day for their labor. June Mann was 10 years old when they came to work her father’s farm on Rio Grande Blvd. “They did everything,” she recalled decades later. They drove tractors and picked strawberries. The celery they grew and harvested was shipped to the White House. One Nazi grafted Bing cherries onto sour pie cherries, the result being larger and sweeter pie cherries. Up to 171 soldiers crowded the Schwartzman facility. Only three attempted to escape, one successfully. The camp passed inspection by the International Red Cross shortly before the prisoners were released in March 1946. Major renovations soon transformed Camp Albuquerque into the Schwartzman Apartments. This real estate venture lasted about 20 years before the buildings were uprooted once again and relocated to Los Lunas. Concrete foundations are the only trace of history that remains on the weedy 8-acre lot.
As you continue north-northeast, dense vegetation obscures views of the canal flowing in the opposite direction alongside the trail. The elms and cottonwoods here aren’t as massive as those closer to the river, but in places their limbs arch overhead while their roots rumple the asphalt underfoot. (Watch your step.) The sturdy, 850-foot fence on your right ends to reveal empty lots where three 400-foot radio towers stand in a row to transmit 5,000 watts of sports jabber, courtesy of KNML. (“The Sports Animal” is 610 on your AM dial.) Directly north of these scrubby lots are cultivated fields—the western extent of what remained of the Schwartzman properties as of 2014. In 1883 Josef Schwartzman left Austria at the age of 14, established a meat market on Central Ave. in 1889, and acquired 200 acres in the South Valley in the early 1900s. By the 1930s the Schwartzman family had amassed more than 1,000 acres to grow crops and raise cattle—up to 10,000 head jammed their feedlots. The cows are gone now and the main crops in recent years are alfalfa and chile. A network of irrigation ditches attracts waterfowl. In fall and winter, the harvested fields are a popular refueling stop for sandhill cranes. In November you might hear the sound of their rattling kar-r-roo calls and catch the scent of green chile wafting from a distant roaster. Enjoy the moment while you can. The fields are prime for a masterplanned community, according to the new property managers. For now, the northernmost field ends in a point, and a dirt road merges on your right.
Take a hairpin turn onto the dirt road and walk south through the pedestrian access in the gate ahead. A nearby acequia gate here crosses the Barr Canal. Three ditch roads run alongside this waterway. The low road is in better shape, while the upper roads afford better views. Best to stay on the low road for now. Portable latrines crowd the storage lot on the east side of the Barr Canal. An additional warning for those with bikes and dogs: goat heads (Tribulus terrestris) tend to grow thicker on the high roads and are capable of damaging tires and bare paws. The roads continue south another half mile with cultivated fields on both sides. A farmhouse and silo stand at the south end of the fields on your left. Closer to the canal, the ruins of a slaughterhouse lurk behind a cluster of trees. The Schwartzman Packing Plant started in the early 1900s to supply Schwartzman’s meat market. In 1966 an equipment malfunction caused an explosion that damaged the plant, but it remained in operation, processing up to 25 million pounds of meat per year before shutting down in 1981. Now its cinder block walls serve as canvases for graffiti artists whose talents have improved dramatically in recent years. normally runs from March 1 through the end of October. Shells scattered along the canal belong to the Asian clam (Corbicula fluminea), an invasive species introduced to the Rio Grande in 1966. The ditch road continues south, squeezing between shanties on the east side of the Poco Loco neighborhood and an abandoned paint-supply warehouse on Rossmoor Rd.
Turn right at Rossmoor Rd, the first paved cross street. Ambassador Edward L. Romero Park lies ahead on the left. Equipped with a basketball court, picnic area, and climbing wall, this award-winning park acts as a buffer zone between the new developments of Westbrook Commons and an established hamlet known as “Poco Loco” (a little bit crazy). Edward L. Romero served as ambassador to Spain during the Clinton administration, and the park named in his honor represents a diplomatic effort to neutralize tension between the two communities it serves.
Turn left on Poco Loco Dr. and follow it as it zigzags back to the parking area at the end of Poco Loco Frontage Rd.
Points of Interest
- Rio Bravo Riverside Picnic Area cabq.gov/parksandrecreation, Poco Loco Frontage Rd. SE, 505-452-5200
- Ambassador Edward L. Romero Park bernco.gov/parks, 310 Rossmoor Rd. SE, 505-314-0400
Route Summary
- Start at the Rio Bravo Riverside Picnic Area parking lot. Walk east on Poco Loco Frontage Rd.
- Turn north on the Riverside Trail.
- Turn south onto the Barr Canal ditch road.
- Turn west on Rossmoor Rd.
- Turn south on Poco Loco Dr.
- Turn west on Poco Loco Dr.
- Turn south on Poco Loco Dr.
- Turn west on Poco Loco Frontage Rd.
Connecting the Walks: Walk 19 also begins at the Rio Bravo Riverside Picnic Area.
