How Tony Hawk Helped Put El Paso Skate Park on the Map in 2004

In the world of skateboarding, the name Tony Hawk is a legend. He's inspired many people to pick up a skateboard to learn how to ride. He also loves skating & meeting his fans (just recently he skated with the Navajo Nation in New Mexico) At the height of his popularity, he made sure the world knew some of the best skate parks were around the world. One of them was right here in El Paso.

Which El Paso skatepark did Tony Hawk praise?

If you've been to El Paso, there are a total of 11 skate parks in town including Album Skate Park, Mountain View Skate Park, Northeast Regional Skate Park. One of them would be included in the first of Tony Hawk's DVD series called Tony Hawk's Secret Skatepark Tour released in 2004.

But which one was it? Well looking at the summary of the DVD, the footage was filmed between July 3 to July 17th, 2003. A total of 15 different skateparks were included from 6 different states (New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, California & Texas). El Paso was the only Texas stop included on the DVD. And that skate park...was Carolina Skatepark.

You can see Tony Hawk & his friends performing for a ton of El Paso fans (and signing their stuff) at the Carolina Skatepark in El Paso at the 17:30 mark in the video.

This wouldn't be the last time Birdman came to El Paso

In 2018, Tony Hawk returned to perform a free exhibition event at Speaking Rock in Socorro. Of course a lot of people were excited & shared their videos online.

This footage is nearly 20 years old & it's amazing to think that even back then, Tony Hawk KNEW that El Paso was a place for skateboarders. And for that, we say thank you Birdman.

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