Sandia Tramway Tower Trail, NM

On my drive through Albuquerque I wanted to get in a fast, steep bit of exercise to loosen my legs up abit. My hiking partner wanted to take a ride on the world's longest Tram. We both got what we wanted by stopping off at the Sandia Tramway. I initially hiked the Tramway trail thinking it would follow the path of the Tram, but in fact it traverses the lower elevations connecting over to La Luz trail, which goes up the mountain to the other end of the Tramway. Yet, if you walk to the far south end of the upper parking area, past the main building, there is an additional old roadway departing to the south. If you take off on it it forks soon after the start, and the left hand fork does exactly what I was hoping to do: it heads uphill winding under the route of the Tramway. In fact, it is obviously the road used to construct the massive tower that supports the cable system for the Tram. It winds its way steeply up to the first tower and simply ends. On the way it winds around near a couple of large water tanks and through some interesting rock formations, but the reason to chug up this grade is purely for the views and the great bit of exercise while your visiting the Tram complex. I was treated to a most interesting site while sitting on some of those high point rocks, nearly equal to the height of the approaching Tram: ala James Bond, up came a Tram with a man standing serenely on top... riding the exterior of the Car. I did not have my camera... oh, well.

It is also possible to access this road by simply walking/climbing directly up the Tram Tower cable route from the main building. This is a far steeper initial approach, but puts you in the midst of those large rock formations and makes for a real leg burner.

Obviously this trail is not a destination hike, but if you are in the area, go for it.

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2009-05-14 imike