The Paso del Norte Trail, an ambitious trail network spanning more than 70 miles across El Paso County, could be completed by 2035 – at least that’s the goal, said Jana Renner, senior program officer at the Paso del Norte Health Foundation.
This year, a segment in Sunland Park, New Mexico, is slated for completion while construction is set to begin on a segment between Fabens and Tornillo, Renner told El Paso Matters.
The nonprofit foundation has overseen the project since 2017 and worked with planning agencies and stakeholders to develop a master plan in 2018. The plan lays out a path that would connect the east and west sides of El Paso with a mix of paved and unpaved paths for biking, running, walking and other recreational uses.
The route will run from Anthony to Tornillo, taking pedestrians along the Rio Grande and farmland, through urban settings and residential neighborhoods. The trail would link people to parks and popular El Paso destinations including Downtown, the El Paso Zoo in South-Central and the historic missions in the Lower Valley.
“It’s not just for your runners and your avid bikers,” Renner said. “Obviously we’re very happy that they’re using it, too, but it’s also for the folks who aren’t your everyday exercisers that just want to get out and take a walk with their family.”
What segments of the Paso del Norte Trail are complete?
The idea for the project sprung in the early 2000s after the completion of the Rio Grande River Park Trail, which has now been incorporated into the greater trail network.
The nearly 11-mile scenic segment in the Upper Valley runs parallel to the river through Vinton and Canutillo before ending at Country Club Road in El Paso. A common access point is through Mary Frances Kiesling Park.
The first new segment, the Playa Drain Trail, was completed in 2018. More than 6 miles long, it links five El Paso parks, including Ascarate Park, which offers bike rentals. Young shade trees, benches, picnic tables and exercise equipment line the asphalt path.
The next part of the Rio Grande segment on the Westside is a short path in Sunland Park running from Racetrack Drive to Frontera Road. Another segment under construction will run down Main Street in Fabens, which turns into Alameda Avenue through Tornillo.
Other segments, recently funded, include a 2-mile connection along Magoffin Avenue to the El Paso Zoo and a nearly 6-mile stretch linking Socorro, San Elizario and Clint. People have also expressed interest in connecting the trail to Ciudad Juárez, possibly at the Chamizal National Memorial and over the Bridge of the Americas, Renner said.
How is the Paso del Norte Trail funded?
Since the development of the master plan, more than $80 million for the design and construction of about 35 miles of trail have been awarded to the city, county, Texas Department of Transportation, city of Socorro, city of Sunland Park and the Paso del Norte Community Foundation.
Of that total, the state transportation agency awarded more than $45 million to the city and county. The remaining came from other sources, including federal grants, local governments, public and private grants and donations.
“I look at it as a community project that no one really owns,” Renner said. “I think we’ve led a lot of it, but I definitely don’t want it to seem like the other partners aren’t doing anything because they’re doing the heavy lifting around writing grants and making sure the funding is coming up and they’re the ones managing the construction projects.”
The goal is to secure funding for the last 20 miles of unfunded trail by 2030 with construction finished by 2035, Renner said.
How do people use the Paso del Norte Trail?
On a recent morning, Lizette Morales met another bicyclist and they stopped to chat before walking their bikes over a wooden bridge at the River Park Trail. Morales comes to the trail several times a week, starting at Mary Frances Kiesling Park and biking up to Vinton before turning back – about 13 miles total.
Her husband, a former runner before knee surgery took him out, often joins her. She started cycling in 2020 during the pandemic as a way to get out of the house. In the beginning, she could bike for only about 15 minutes. Now can last two hours, Morales said.
“I’m 54 years old,” Morales said. “It’s also for my health and to get strong in my bones, getting stronger and better.”
“We’re not used to going on the streets,” she said. “I get afraid of the cars and everything, so this is lovely, this is beautiful because you don’t have to be biking with the cars.”
Other Upper Valley residents hit the trail that morning with their dogs, welcoming the intermittent clouds. The river glinted in the sunlight, full this time of year after the annual water release from New Mexico’s Elephant Butte Dam.
José Mora, walking an excitable young pit bull, Onyx, and a shy shepherd dog, Amber, said he goes to the River Park Trail to get out of the city environment. Mora used to roller blade on the paved path, and if the trail extends eastward as planned, he would probably see how far he could cycle, he said.
Friends Patricia Aguilar and Linda Dominguez were also catching up as they walked their dogs, a schnauzer and a small adopted mutt. Like Mora and Morales, the friends said they had no idea there was a plan to build a countywide trail network, but it’s a plan they support.
Renner hopes the Paso del Norte Trail will give people an appreciation for El Paso’s beauty and way to explore the area.
“In some parts you’re much closer to nature, you’re able to experience – especially on the River Park Trail – the trees and you can hear the birds,” Renner said. “But I think even the trails that go through neighborhoods, you get a feel of those neighborhoods, whereas if you’re driving in a car you’re really experiencing, in many cases, the freeway or major roads and you don’t get to see those intimate neighborhoods.”
The post The path ahead: El Paso County recreational trail targeted for 2035 completion appeared first on El Paso Matters.
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