The Rio Bosque Wetlands Park is a 372-acre park along the Rio Grande on the southwest side of El Paso.
The description of the wetlands in the Mission Trail brochure we picked up at the downtown El Paso Visitor’s Center convinced us to take this much-needed nature escape.
The park includes trails, restored habitats, riverside woods, and native ecosystems. After visiting their website for operating hours, directions, and information on specific trails, we made plans to go the following day. On Sunday, November 6th, we packed the dogs in the car and headed out.
Getting There
The Rio Bosque Wetland Park is located south of Loop 375, off the Pan American Drive in El Paso, Texas. This map highlights the landmarks to assist with navigation. It also shows where each trailhead is located.
The Visitor Center is a short walk from the parking lot for the Bosque Trailhead. After picking up brochures for each of the three trails, we picked the 1.5-mile Wetland Loop Trail for our much-needed nature trail walk.
A group of hikers heading back in passed us as we headed out on the trail. They were the only people we saw on the trail that day. And because of that, we let the dogs go off-leash for most of the walk.
It was their first time off-leash since we left home in mid-October.
It was a treat for all of us!
The Trails
Along the trail, there are posts with numbers corresponding to an item of interest on the trail map. We followed the trail as much as possible. Except, when we saw something interesting in another direction, we took a detour onto one of the other trails. Luckily, we’d picked up maps for all three trails, which helped us navigate back to the Wetland Loop trail each time.
We saw many of the plants and trees listed in the brochures we picked up at the Visitor’s Center and have tried to identify them as much as possible in our pictures.
These are pictures of a Willow Baccaris tree and a close-up of its leaves and flower heads. Hanging from a branch are the seed pods of the Tornillo. Also known as Screwbean Mesquite. The delicate white flowers are found on the Seepwillow tree.
As we continued along the trail, a windmill came into view. Near the windmill was a weathered structure that held trail signs.
The trail narrowed as we arrived at the wetlands. One of the first things we noticed was a snake on the side of the trail. As we approached, it slithered down the bank toward the water.
Wetlands
Wanting to see more of the wetlands, we moved from the Wetland Loop Trail to the Rio Loop Trail at a trail junction. However, we did not take the trail to the far side.
Cattails are very abundant here, with and without tail inflorescences.
A last picture of the wetlands as we were on our way back to the main trail.
More Sites Along the Trail
We continued along the trail past markers 8 and 9. These areas are a mix of new and mature tornillo trees. We soon came to a water channel, at marker 10.
This is a picture of the metal wheels that control the water flow for the channel.
At this point, we saw another windmill in the distance, as well as the vibrant yellow leaves of the Rio Grande Cottonwoods. Fall colors! We turned off the orange duck trail and followed the yellow dragon fly trail towards the windmill for a closer look.
This is a working windmill and we watched the pump pole go up and down as the wind wheel turned.
Sadie taking a quick rest as Andy took pictures.
Max is still resting, but Sadie is ready to go! By the time we got back to the car, Max’s paws were white again.
After taking some pictures and looking around the windmill, we turned and walked back to the orange trail.
The rest of the trail followed a water channel. According to the trail guide, the channel is an old bend of the Rio Grande that was cuff off when the river was straightened to its current location in the 1930’s. It was a very scenic part of the trail and we took our time as we headed back towards trailhead at the Visitor’s Center.
When we got to the parking lot, the dogs were ready to get in the car and rest. They were exhausted and happy. We were refreshed and talked about taking the longer Rio Loop trail next time.
Beautiful shots!
Thank you!