In 2003 a fire devastated the Bosque, and Pueblo Montano park, part of Albuquerque’s Open Space program. Trees and vegetation were destroyed.

Today, that bleak landscape has been turned into an unusual sculpture park through the chainsaw artistry of Mark Chavez. Chavez was one of the firefighters who fought the Bosque blaze. Now retired to pursue his love of wood carving, he took the charred hulks and made them into owls and turtles, and birds, and a beautiful eagle with spread wings. There’s also a firefighter with his foot on a vanquished dragon in honor of the men and women who quelled that blaze. You take this big, barren, chunk of wood that doesn’t look like it's good for anything except maybe to cut up and burn for firewood, and you start chiseling away at it, and, little by little, something starts forming. And in the end, something beautiful is made out of something that other people might see as worthless. I feel like our lives are shaped that way, said Chavez in an early interview for the Albuquerque Tribune.

Pueblo Montano Picnic Area and Trailhead is part of the Rio Grande Valley State Park. It offers the amenities of some picnic tables, and a fully accessible paved loop. For more information visit CABQ.gov - Open Space