Majestic high desert scenery
Excellent trail running in the region
AE has many lines of trail and hiking shoes
Be sure to have an adequate water supply
Don't forget the sunscreen!
A Guide to Running in Albuquerque
from Runner's World Magazine
Surrounded by the surreal beauty of the Southwest's high desert, New Mexico, is a meld of century-old
historic districts and modern high rises--an urban space still wild around the
edges. One of America's oldest cities, founded in 1706, was originally an
outpost on the Camino Real (King's Highway) between Chihuahua, Mexico, and
Santa Fe. Today, the city that's home to one-third of New Mexico's people is a
rich mosaic of cultures and lifestyles and a haven for outdoor recreation
zealots, who can frolic under some of the bluest skies anywhere in America.
Before You Go
Phone the Albuquerque Convention and Visitors Bureau (800-284-2282) for a free copy of The Art of Visiting Albuquerque.
Getting Oriented
Like its desert setting, Albuquerque sprawls, so you'll need a car. But it's a pretty easy city to navigate, as it's divided north-south by the Downtown railroad tracks and east-west by Central Avenue (formerly part of historic Route 66), which creates four quadrants: northwest, northeast, southwest and southeast. Of greatest interest to visitors are Old Town (the city's original Spanish heart), Downtown, the University District (U. of New Mexico, that is) and Nob Hill, which are laid out west to east from the Rio Grande River in a pattern roughly the shape of the Nike swoosh.
Convenient City Runs
Albuquerque has a nifty little network of urban bike paths, the longest, most scenic, most runner-dense of which is the Paseo del Bosque (pronounced "boce-kay," meaning "forest"), which runs 6 marked, paved miles (about to be expanded to 10) north from Old Town through a cottonwood forest along the banks of the Rio Grande River. The Bosque takes you to the city's northwestern edge at the Rio Grande Nature Center State Park (which offers its own pair of 1-mile riverside loops), where it becomes an unpaved river trail extending 12 miles farther to the town of Bernalillo and the Coronado State Monument.
The 6-mile-long Paseo del Noreste starts at the University of New Mexico golf course (itself a perfect 2-mile, unpaved route) and connects Downtown with the city's upscale Northeast Heights, where you'll find the 4.2-mile Paseo de las Montanas (running between Tramway Boulevard and the Winrock Shopping Center), with its sweeping cityscape views. For a trail map, phone the Parks & Recreation Department's Outdoor Recreation Division (505-768-3550).
Where to Stay Old Town.
Two choices here: The best conventional hotel is the Sheraton Old Town (800 Rio Grande Blvd. NW, 505-843-6300), whose small fitness room (free weights, stairclimber, bike) is accessible to guests 24 hours a day. The views from the Sheraton's upper floor are arguably Albuquerque's most sensational.
But, for the most memorable high-desert experience, reserve one of the 18 self-contained casitas set in 2 acres of magnificent gardens at Casas de Suenos ("Houses of Dreams," 310 Rio Grande Blvd. SW, 505-247-4560). Though there is no health club, the Paseo del Bosque is a mere half-mile out the door, most rooms have hot tubs, and one particularly exotic lair is set up for couples massage. The complimentary gourmet breakfast includes imaginative dishes such as asparagus-cheese souffle and baked curried fruit accompanied by homemade breads and pastries.
Downtown.
Excellent corporate rates, underground walkways to both the Convention Center and Galeria shopping, access ($9/day) to the full-facility Downtown Sports and Wellness Center, and big chocolate chip cookies at check-in are among perks offered by the Albuquerque Doubletree (201 Marquette St. NW, 505-247-3344). This beautifully designed hotel features a two-story waterfall, pillared lobby and Southwestern-style rooms. Runners can get a map outlining a 5-K from the lobby, or just head for the Paseo del Bosque about 2 miles west. There's also a small in-house exercise room (stairclimber, rower, bike).
If in-house workout machinery is a priority, consider the Hyatt Regency Albuquerque (330 Tijeras Ave. NW, 505-842-1234), the city's newest and best hotel. Health club facilities include a treadmill, stationary bike, rower, stairclimbers, Universal multistation and free weights. There are two mapped running routes from the hotel--3 miles out-and-back east to the University of New Mexico, 3 miles out-and-back west to Old Town--that can be combined to create a 6-mile figure-8. Or take the Old Town route, swing onto the Paseo del Bosque, and you can carve out circuits of up to 16 miles, all paved.
Suburbs.
About 4 miles north of Downtown, in Albuquerque's commercial Journal Center area, is the amazing Holiday Inn Pyramid (5151 San Francisco Rd. NE, 505-821-3333), whose dramatic profile is that of a gargantuan, nouveau-Aztec pyramid--and, no, we're not in Las Vegas, Dorothy. The hotel offers its runner guests decent workout equipment (stairclimber, rower, treadmill, two stationary bikes, Marcy multistation weight machine) and a mapped, 2.6-mile loop that takes in the Journal Park Exercise Path. The Pyramid has the city's best views of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, the "Balloon Capital of the World" 's multicolored October hot-air extravaganza.
High-Desert, High-Adventure Runs
Within a 10- to 20-minute drive from Old Town/Downtown, you can take on some of America's grandest--and toughest--trail running.
About 15 miles northeast of the city is the 1.5-million-acre Cibola National Forest, whose elaborate trail system includes the ultimate masochist/altitude junkie's delight: La Luz Trail, which starts at 7,060 feet and, 9 miles later, deposits you at Mount Sandia's 10,378-foot summit. There's even a bottom-to-top race in August (if 6-inch steps still qualify as "racing"). For $13, the max V02-challenged can take the tram to the top and run down.
At the base of the Cibola, in the Northeast Heights, you'll find what Paul Grosvenor regards as the city's best running. "First, there's the straight-line, north-south Tramway Bike Path next to Tramway Boulevard, which parallels the Sandia Foothills for about 10 miles. On weekends, so many runners are there, it looks like a race is going on," he says. "Then, in the same general area, you have the elaborate Foothills trail system. There are maybe three main trails--all dirt, rolling and hilly--and zillions of offshoots. Wildlife, too. It's not uncommon to see 20 or 30 deer during an hour run."
To run wild in Albuquerque, drive to the Elena Gallegos Picnic Area (off Tramway Blvd., just north of the Spain Rd. NE intersection), where you'll find a number of trailheads that wind up into the mountains. For possible weekend company, call the Albuquerque Road Runners.
Closer to town, a few miles across the Rio Grande to the northwest, is Petroglyph National Monument (6900 Unser Blvd. NW, 505-897-8814). Here, you can run past volcanic cones and some 17,000 petroglyphs (rock drawings etched on basalt boulders) that chronicle the life of prehistoric Native Americans. The running is rugged, and the views are, of course, smashing. The most popular Petroglyph running routes are the West Mesa Trail and the Escarpment Trail (the latter among the Great American Trail Runs profiled in "Happy Trails," RW, October '95).
Good Eating
Three refueling stops popular with carbo-conscious Albuquerque runners are the Flying Star in various locations around the city, an eclectic deli-bakery with an international selection of magazines and newspapers; EJ's (2201 Silver Ave. SE, 505-268-2233), whose menu features 20 specialty coffees, homemade granola, made-from-scratch vegetarian soups, enormous bagels, scrambled tofu and shrimp linguine; and Fred's Bread & Bagels (3009 Central Ave. NE, 505-266-7323), offering, among its dozen-or-so circular choices, green-chile-cheese or corn bagels, and thick "Fred's Spreads" that include garlic olive and honey nut.
More upscale is Albuquerque institution Maria Teresa (618 Rio Grande Blvd. NW, 505-242-3900)--high-desert haute served in a splendid, 19th-century adobe national historic property. Try the fresh salmon with tequila lime butter or fine regional cuisine such as raspberry chicken, or stop in for Maria Teresa's legendary Sunday brunch, which includes green chile waffles.
In Old Town, head for one of peripatetic journalist Charles Kuralt's favorite feeding stations, La Placita (208 San Felipe St. NW, 505-247-2204), for heaping mounds of moderately priced New Mexican specialties, including whole green chiles stuffed with cheese, and blue-corn chicken enchiladas. The next night, head a few doors down to La Hacienda (302 San Felipe St. NW, 505-243-3131) for tacos Monterey (stuffed with shrimp, crab and whitefish). M & J's Sanitary Tortilla Factory (403 Second St. SW, 505-242-4890) serves up some of the best and cheapest New Mex items in town.
Among Albuquerque's best dishes are the roasted garlic with goat cheese and grilled red pepper, and the egg fettuccine with sauteed lobster and rock shrimp at the Artichoke Cafe (424 Central Ave. SE, 505-243-0200), where all ingredients are organically grown. Dining with a view is the lure of Prairie Star (255 Prairie Star Rd., 505-867-3327), 15 miles north of Albuquerque. Enjoy breathtaking scenery along with trout with pi on nuts or Pasta Sudoeste (red chile fettuccine).
Before You Go
Phone the Albuquerque Convention and Visitors Bureau (800-284-2282) for a free copy of The Art of Visiting Albuquerque.
Getting Oriented
Like its desert setting, Albuquerque sprawls, so you'll need a car. But it's a pretty easy city to navigate, as it's divided north-south by the Downtown railroad tracks and east-west by Central Avenue (formerly part of historic Route 66), which creates four quadrants: northwest, northeast, southwest and southeast. Of greatest interest to visitors are Old Town (the city's original Spanish heart), Downtown, the University District (U. of New Mexico, that is) and Nob Hill, which are laid out west to east from the Rio Grande River in a pattern roughly the shape of the Nike swoosh.
Convenient City Runs
Albuquerque has a nifty little network of urban bike paths, the longest, most scenic, most runner-dense of which is the Paseo del Bosque (pronounced "boce-kay," meaning "forest"), which runs 6 marked, paved miles (about to be expanded to 10) north from Old Town through a cottonwood forest along the banks of the Rio Grande River. The Bosque takes you to the city's northwestern edge at the Rio Grande Nature Center State Park (which offers its own pair of 1-mile riverside loops), where it becomes an unpaved river trail extending 12 miles farther to the town of Bernalillo and the Coronado State Monument.
The 6-mile-long Paseo del Noreste starts at the University of New Mexico golf course (itself a perfect 2-mile, unpaved route) and connects Downtown with the city's upscale Northeast Heights, where you'll find the 4.2-mile Paseo de las Montanas (running between Tramway Boulevard and the Winrock Shopping Center), with its sweeping cityscape views. For a trail map, phone the Parks & Recreation Department's Outdoor Recreation Division (505-768-3550).
Where to Stay Old Town.
Two choices here: The best conventional hotel is the Sheraton Old Town (800 Rio Grande Blvd. NW, 505-843-6300), whose small fitness room (free weights, stairclimber, bike) is accessible to guests 24 hours a day. The views from the Sheraton's upper floor are arguably Albuquerque's most sensational.
But, for the most memorable high-desert experience, reserve one of the 18 self-contained casitas set in 2 acres of magnificent gardens at Casas de Suenos ("Houses of Dreams," 310 Rio Grande Blvd. SW, 505-247-4560). Though there is no health club, the Paseo del Bosque is a mere half-mile out the door, most rooms have hot tubs, and one particularly exotic lair is set up for couples massage. The complimentary gourmet breakfast includes imaginative dishes such as asparagus-cheese souffle and baked curried fruit accompanied by homemade breads and pastries.
Downtown.
Excellent corporate rates, underground walkways to both the Convention Center and Galeria shopping, access ($9/day) to the full-facility Downtown Sports and Wellness Center, and big chocolate chip cookies at check-in are among perks offered by the Albuquerque Doubletree (201 Marquette St. NW, 505-247-3344). This beautifully designed hotel features a two-story waterfall, pillared lobby and Southwestern-style rooms. Runners can get a map outlining a 5-K from the lobby, or just head for the Paseo del Bosque about 2 miles west. There's also a small in-house exercise room (stairclimber, rower, bike).
If in-house workout machinery is a priority, consider the Hyatt Regency Albuquerque (330 Tijeras Ave. NW, 505-842-1234), the city's newest and best hotel. Health club facilities include a treadmill, stationary bike, rower, stairclimbers, Universal multistation and free weights. There are two mapped running routes from the hotel--3 miles out-and-back east to the University of New Mexico, 3 miles out-and-back west to Old Town--that can be combined to create a 6-mile figure-8. Or take the Old Town route, swing onto the Paseo del Bosque, and you can carve out circuits of up to 16 miles, all paved.
Suburbs.
About 4 miles north of Downtown, in Albuquerque's commercial Journal Center area, is the amazing Holiday Inn Pyramid (5151 San Francisco Rd. NE, 505-821-3333), whose dramatic profile is that of a gargantuan, nouveau-Aztec pyramid--and, no, we're not in Las Vegas, Dorothy. The hotel offers its runner guests decent workout equipment (stairclimber, rower, treadmill, two stationary bikes, Marcy multistation weight machine) and a mapped, 2.6-mile loop that takes in the Journal Park Exercise Path. The Pyramid has the city's best views of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, the "Balloon Capital of the World" 's multicolored October hot-air extravaganza.
High-Desert, High-Adventure Runs
Within a 10- to 20-minute drive from Old Town/Downtown, you can take on some of America's grandest--and toughest--trail running.
About 15 miles northeast of the city is the 1.5-million-acre Cibola National Forest, whose elaborate trail system includes the ultimate masochist/altitude junkie's delight: La Luz Trail, which starts at 7,060 feet and, 9 miles later, deposits you at Mount Sandia's 10,378-foot summit. There's even a bottom-to-top race in August (if 6-inch steps still qualify as "racing"). For $13, the max V02-challenged can take the tram to the top and run down.
At the base of the Cibola, in the Northeast Heights, you'll find what Paul Grosvenor regards as the city's best running. "First, there's the straight-line, north-south Tramway Bike Path next to Tramway Boulevard, which parallels the Sandia Foothills for about 10 miles. On weekends, so many runners are there, it looks like a race is going on," he says. "Then, in the same general area, you have the elaborate Foothills trail system. There are maybe three main trails--all dirt, rolling and hilly--and zillions of offshoots. Wildlife, too. It's not uncommon to see 20 or 30 deer during an hour run."
To run wild in Albuquerque, drive to the Elena Gallegos Picnic Area (off Tramway Blvd., just north of the Spain Rd. NE intersection), where you'll find a number of trailheads that wind up into the mountains. For possible weekend company, call the Albuquerque Road Runners.
Closer to town, a few miles across the Rio Grande to the northwest, is Petroglyph National Monument (6900 Unser Blvd. NW, 505-897-8814). Here, you can run past volcanic cones and some 17,000 petroglyphs (rock drawings etched on basalt boulders) that chronicle the life of prehistoric Native Americans. The running is rugged, and the views are, of course, smashing. The most popular Petroglyph running routes are the West Mesa Trail and the Escarpment Trail (the latter among the Great American Trail Runs profiled in "Happy Trails," RW, October '95).
Good Eating
Three refueling stops popular with carbo-conscious Albuquerque runners are the Flying Star in various locations around the city, an eclectic deli-bakery with an international selection of magazines and newspapers; EJ's (2201 Silver Ave. SE, 505-268-2233), whose menu features 20 specialty coffees, homemade granola, made-from-scratch vegetarian soups, enormous bagels, scrambled tofu and shrimp linguine; and Fred's Bread & Bagels (3009 Central Ave. NE, 505-266-7323), offering, among its dozen-or-so circular choices, green-chile-cheese or corn bagels, and thick "Fred's Spreads" that include garlic olive and honey nut.
More upscale is Albuquerque institution Maria Teresa (618 Rio Grande Blvd. NW, 505-242-3900)--high-desert haute served in a splendid, 19th-century adobe national historic property. Try the fresh salmon with tequila lime butter or fine regional cuisine such as raspberry chicken, or stop in for Maria Teresa's legendary Sunday brunch, which includes green chile waffles.
In Old Town, head for one of peripatetic journalist Charles Kuralt's favorite feeding stations, La Placita (208 San Felipe St. NW, 505-247-2204), for heaping mounds of moderately priced New Mexican specialties, including whole green chiles stuffed with cheese, and blue-corn chicken enchiladas. The next night, head a few doors down to La Hacienda (302 San Felipe St. NW, 505-243-3131) for tacos Monterey (stuffed with shrimp, crab and whitefish). M & J's Sanitary Tortilla Factory (403 Second St. SW, 505-242-4890) serves up some of the best and cheapest New Mex items in town.
Among Albuquerque's best dishes are the roasted garlic with goat cheese and grilled red pepper, and the egg fettuccine with sauteed lobster and rock shrimp at the Artichoke Cafe (424 Central Ave. SE, 505-243-0200), where all ingredients are organically grown. Dining with a view is the lure of Prairie Star (255 Prairie Star Rd., 505-867-3327), 15 miles north of Albuquerque. Enjoy breathtaking scenery along with trout with pi on nuts or Pasta Sudoeste (red chile fettuccine).