Tingley Beach

Albuquerque's desert landscape offers a few surprises for entertainment. Amid the brown mountains and the tumbleweeds are well-stocked fishing ponds with pedal boats, an area reserved for remote control boats, a train ride and bicycle rentals for a shady ride alongside the Rio Grande River.

The ponds at Tingley Beach are stocked with rainbow trout, catfish and trout by New Mexico Game and Fish Department. The rainbow trout is stocked twice a month from November to March. The catfish is stocked before major holidays during the summer, and the trout is stocked the first week of June.

Bass and bluegill have begun breeding on their own in the lakes and are available to catch. A fishing report is updated every Thursday online at www.cabq.gov/biopark/tingley.  A New Mexico fishing license is required for all people over 11 years old that want to fish.

Need help with fishing? Fly fishing clinics are held the second Saturday of every month from March to November.

"Fly fishing is intimidating and not something you can just pick up a rod and do," said Rebecca Houtman, curator of Tingley Beach. "We have rods and everything. All you have to do is just show up and we'll entertain you."

There are four ponds available. One pond is for children under 12 years old and is stocked densely with fish to ensure the children's success and encourage a life-long love of fishing. The second is a general pond for everyone to enjoy the fishing experience. The third is a catch-and-release pond, and the fourth is reserved for remote control boats.

If a day of lounging by the ponds is not active enough for your tastes, then pedal boats and bicycles are available to rent and the money raised from the rentals helps support different projects at the zoo, the aquarium and the botanic gardens in Albuquerque. The boats are $8 for half an hour and $12 an hour for the two-seat boat. The four-seat boat is $10 for half an hour and $14 for an hour. Bicycles rent for $8 an hour or $20 for four hours and can be ridden along the paved trail through the Paseo del Bosque along the Rio Grande River.

Bored of Tingley Beach? Hop on the Thunderbird Express, a narrow gauge train, and ride over to the zoo or the Aquarium and Botanic Gardens.

From sunrise to sunset, Tingley Beach offers fun for the entire family.

- by Julie Medina, Albuquerque Reporter for HelloMetro  (Click to leave a message)

Julie Medina

Julie Medina has experience as a reporter at the Albuquerque Journal and has written freelance articles for the Albuquerque Tribune, Albuquerque the Magazine, New Mexico Magazine and New Mexico Kids Magazine. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in print journalism from the University of New Mexico in 2008. She has lived in Albuquerque since 1984 and believes it is best to remember to play like a tourist in your own hometown so you don't forget the vast culture around you.