The Village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque is located in the heart of the North Valley region of Bernalillo County, just seven miles from downtown Albuquerque, its urban neighbor. With the Rio Grande River to the West and the Sandia Mountains to the East, residences enjoy rural quiet living with an abundance of wildlife and great vistas. Los Ranchos is an incorporated municipality which was formed under the laws of the State of New Mexico on December 29, 1958.
Commerce in the Village of Los Ranchos consists both of businesses concentrated along Fourth (4th) Street and home occupations scattered throughout the Village. A unique "theme" of antiques, landscape nurseries, wineries, bed and breakfast inns, western and equestrian outfitting, and Mexican restaurants predominates. Fourth Street was the first paved road through the North Valley, paralleling the railroad. In the 1920s it was designated as US Highway 66 (Route 66), later as U.S.Highway 85. It was the main north-south highway through Albuquerque until the interstate highway was completed in the 1960s. Much of the street's strip commercial character is a byproduct of this period. In addition, Fourth Street was a part of the original El Camino Real, running from Chihuahua, Mexico through El Paso to Santa Fe.
The Los Ranchos corridor is a mixture of higher density single family homes, mobile home parks, both older and modern commercial buildings and, further north, even some irrigated fields.
