Bachechi Open Space, 1 Year Later

Most of the land was once owned and farmed by the Bachechi family and the far northeast portion of the property used to be a nursery. Both tenants eventually vacated the area and the Siberian Elm trees were allowed to run wild, taking over the former nursery forest, while dirt and weeds replaced the space once occupied by crops.

But it’s forsaken no longer.

A year ago this month, Bernalillo County officially opened the newly designed 27-acre property to the public, naming it the Bachechi Open Space.

Since then, it’s become a popular spot for equestrians, walkers, joggers and nature lovers.

The property was settled in 1938 by Carlo and Mary Bachechi. The property’s close proximity to the bosque made it prime property for development but the Bachechi heirs didn’t want to see the valuable property developed. The county purchased the property in 1999, but didn’t develop a plan for it until the mid-2000s using input from the public.

Tom Clark, president of the Rio Grande Estates neighborhood association, lives across the street from the open space on Rio Grande. He was one of the neighbors who helped develop plans for the space. Clark, an avid biker, wanted to make sure the land was designed for not only equestrians but bikers and walkers.

“I wanted it to have a diverse use, age-wise and hobby-wise,” he said. “People say it’s a jewel of the North Valley, and I tend to agree.”

Clark said he bikes through the area almost daily and also explores it on foot. In addition to providing entertainment, he said his quality of life has also improved since Bachechi opened.

“My land was always filling up with dirt when the wind would blow,” he said. “Now that they’ve put in some vegetation, I don’t have as much dirt blowing my way.”

Native, drought resistant grasses frame the trails around Bachechi Open Space. The county planted the grass and other vegetation to give the area a more aesthetic appeal.

Bachechi quietly opened to the public in October 2011, but it was this month a year ago that the county held its official ribbon-cutting and began marketing the space to not only individual community members but educators and other organizations.

The county built a 2,000-square-foot education center on the property, which it leases for free to teachers and other organizations wanting to hold workshops. The classroom is set up like a science lab. Colleen McRoberts, the county’s open space coordinator, said 80 percent of the building is powered by 20 solar panels. Next to the building are two 1,000-gallon rain barrels used to water nearby landscaping.

To the north of the education center is a wetlands area and a 50-year-old pecan orchard. The pecan trees sit in a field adjacent to the arboretum that has both cottonwoods and Siberian elms, which the county had to thin when it took over the property.

“It sat here unkempt,” McRoberts said. “The elms really took over.”

Just south of the education center is an outdoor classroom where the county can also attach a screen and show movies and films. A walking trail circles and cuts through much of the property and runs alongside fields of native plants, grasses and flowers.

Equestrians cannot ride around on the property but there is a path from Rio Grande to the bosque built specifically to gives riders access to the bosque. Equestrians can also park in the lot off Alameda, where a gravel lot was designed specifically for them. A round pen allows owners to warm-up their horses before heading out for a ride in the bosque.

Jackie Bouker is an equestrian and North Valley resident who helped the county come up with ways to make the property accessible to different types of people.

“They have done a very good job giving us access to the ditch trail,” she said. “Overall, they have done a wonderful job with that whole Bachechi open space.”
— This article appeared on page 24 of the Albuquerque Journal