Rio Grande Valley State Park protects the bosque, the ribbon of cottonwoods and riverside habitat that cuts through Albuquerque. It is less a single landscaped park than a long green corridor, with dirt paths, paved multi-use trails, birding spots, and river access tucked behind neighbourhoods and open-space parking areas.
The best way to use it is on foot or by bicycle, linking pieces of the Paseo del Bosque Trail with short detours toward the water. It gives Albuquerque a softer side than the desert foothills and old Route 66 strips: shade, cranes and ducks in season, and the slow bend of the Rio Grande under the cottonwoods.