Lost souls and new-found places
Exploring southeast ColoradoBy Jeff Miller
> If you go
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> Highway of Legends
> Trinidad
> La Junta and Comanche National Grasslands
Road trip adventurers always seek the unique, unusual and unexplored. At first glance, they'd probably skip the highway triangle of Pueblo, Trinidad and La Junta in Colorado's southeast. As portrayed on a map, the route's lack of tourist markers and contour lines indicates it might be uninteresting, uninspiring and downright flat.
But the map is wrong. Underlying the simple lines on paper is an intriguing triangle of scenic, cultural and historical highlights that can keep travelers enthralled for an extended weekend.
This issue's Mini Tour covers that triangle's 280 miles and includes two evocative roads, a few little-known museums, one impressive Victorian mansion and Colorado's largest above-ground kiva.
Pueblo
The first part of the road trip is conducted on foot, exploring Pueblo. Known for generations as an industrial powerhouse, its smelters and smokestacks create a distinctive skyline that didn't always attract tourists. Today, Pueblo is much more than its industrial skyline. It's a multicultural city with an attractive riverwalk, vibrant historical downtown and interesting museums.
In the El Pueblo History Museum, visitors can see a recreated 1840s-style adobe trading post and plaza, as well as learn about the region's Native American, Hispanic and pioneer heritage. The Hispanic culture, which goes back more than 300 years in this region, has given the city some of its best flavor—literally and figuratively. Many Pueblo farmers grow their own variety of chile peppers that are used in creative ways. Some of those zesty peppers are roasted, then cooked with a bit of pork and spices, to make a delicious green chile. That sauce is smothered on an open-faced cheeseburger to create a local favorite, the "slopper." You can sample that culinary delicacy at Gray's Coors Tavern on Fourth Street, or try the green chile at the small local hangout, Papa Jose's on Union Ave.
After lunch, you'll need a good walk and the historical downtown provides ample opportunities—stroll to the ornate train depot, window shop the stores on Union Ave., or stretch your legs along the attractive Historic Arkansas Riverwalk with its picturesque passenger boats.
A short drive from the riverwalk is the fascinating Rosemount Museum. This 37-room, 24,000-square-foot mansion was built and furnished between 1891-93 for the then—astronomical sum of $100,000 (approximately $2.4 million in today's dollars). The interior is nearly 100% original and accurately portrays the lifestyle of one of Colorado's wealthiest families. Don't miss the authentic Egyptian mummy in the attic!
Highway of Legends
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When it's time to leave Pueblo for Trinidad, you can follow the massive coal trains laboring alongside I-25, but a much better route is to veer west at Walsenburg onto US 160, then State Highway 12. Known as the Highway of Legends, this is a National Scenic Byway that sneaks behind the majestic Spanish Peaks and shyly offers numerous unique and scenic sights along an 82-mile journey that you'll wish lasted longer.
Just off the Interstate, the road trickles down to two lanes and is dwarfed by a horizon filled with four distant Sangre de Cristo fourteeners on the right and the two closer Spanish Peaks on the left.
The first town you come to is La Veta. Sample the ice cream at Charlie's Market, peruse SSHP Antiques or explore Fort Francisco Museum. While you're in town, pick up the poster-sized "La Veta Cuchara Tour Map and Guide," by Pamela Pemberton, that relates many of the legends that give the route its name.After leaving La Veta, Highway 12 takes on magical qualities. The "back road," as locals call it, conjures up natural wonders like the massive Devil's Stair Steps, the 250-foot sandstone Dakota Wall outcropping and pristine Monument Lake with its 1930s resort. The village of Cuchara is good for a lunch break, and two incredibly photogenic stops are the dilapidated house-on-a-bridge near milepost 42.6 and the Cokedale coal ovens that masquerade as ancient Roman ruins.
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The landscape, especially after Cuchara Pass (9,941 feet), is a sparsely populated postcard of vibrant greenery, little lakes, tiny villages and gray, aged barns. Fuzzy-haired burros—descendant gifts from ancient conquistadors—meander through the area like tiny exclamation points.
Running beside the road is the Purgatoire River. Legend has it that some Spanish explorers loaded with gold were killed by Native Americans near the river. Because there was no priest to administer last rites, the river became known as El Rio de las Animas Perdidos en Purgatorio (the River of Souls Lost in Purgatory).
Trinidad
Driving into Trinidad via this back way, you get a sense of the city's past importance as a transportation hub. The geography tells the story: The Purgatoire flows through town. A fertile valley carpets the surrounding area. Fisher's Peak to the south and Simpson's Rest promontory to the northwest stand tall like gateway pillars.
It's not surprising, then, that the mountain branch of the Santa Fe Trail came through Trinidad. It was the perfect staging area for those preparing to tackle Raton Pass to the south, and the ideal resting spot for those who had come over the Pass and were heading north to Denver or northeast to Kansas City.
What is surprising is that Trinidad has preserved much of its pioneer history, especially in the Corazon de Trinidad National Historic District. More than 20 streets are still paved with bricks, while 60 old buildings stand as reminders of the glory days. If you wander the residential streets just south of Main Street you'll see stunning architectural structures such as the Tarabino Inn, Stone Mansion B&B and Temple Aaron. A dead end off Fifth and Maple is an impromptu overlook that gives bird's-eye views of the town. Also notable are the shops along Main Street, the Trinidad History Museum complex and the tasty flatiron steaks served at the Black Jack Saloon.
La Junta and Comanche National Grasslands
Heading out of Trinidad for La Junta, you turn northeast and take State Highway 350, which follows a portion of the mountain route of the Santa Fe Trail. In 1987 the entire Santa Fe Trail was designated a National Historic Trail. Today, as the road drops down to a two-lane affair without shoulders, it offers much to travelers—but in subtle, gentle ways.
While the route does cut through parts of Comanche National Grassland, there are no official attractions. The road's true appeal is that it brings you closer to the prairie. At first glance the countryside is flat as a flapjack and just as tan. But if you look closer, you'll start to see the gullies, little rises, mounds and miniature valleys—like the soft wrinkles of someone who's aged gracefully. Back in the horse and wagon days, the route saw much more human activity than it does today. And the people—walking, riding horses or sitting in slow-moving wagons—got to know the trail more intimately than those who now shoot along in steel cocoons.
To fully appreciate this stretch of road, you need to pull over (safely), turn off the engine and just listen to the sound of the prairie—from the twittering of birds to the low sigh of the wind through the prairie grass. Take time to notice the small herds of grazing pronghorns, the lone eagle patiently riding thermals in search of a meal, and the weather-beaten wooden buildings waiting in vain for someone to remember them. It's a land that's both timeless and alive with today.
After such serenity, the hum of activity in small town La Junta can be a bit jarring. Not to worry, a browse through Main Street's shops and craft stores will ease you back into civilization.
For a unique experience, visit La Junta's Koshare Indian Museum and Kiva. Founded in 1933 by a group of Boy Scouts to study Indian culture, it has evolved into a blend of heritage preservation and cultural center that still supports founder J. F. Burshears' guiding principle: "Don't wait to be a great man, be a great boy."
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Boys make up the Koshare Indian Dancers, who perform summer and winter ceremonials for the public. The older boys teach the younger ones the songs and dances and everyone makes their own costumes. (In 2003 girls were officially welcomed into the group.) The museum, started by the boys and added to by each senior class, contains an impressive collection of Southwestern art and artifacts.
The center's biggest draw is a giant above-ground kiva. Constructed in 1949, its round shape and decorated adobe walls only accent the incredible 600-log roof—the largest self-supporting roof of its kind in the country.
Starting back toward Pueblo, you think US 50 will be anticlimactic after what you've already experienced. Happily, the fresh produce markets and roadside stalls from the surrounding farmland make you forget everything except how great southeastern Colorado's fresh fruit is. Taking a bite from a vine-ripened Rocky Ford melon, you glance at the map, with its simple lines forming the triangle you just drove. You look up and see the fertile land, deep blue sky and mountainous horizon. You look at the map again, then take another juicy bite of melon that bursts with earthen sweetness. You think back to all that you've seen and done during the past few days.
Yep, the map was definitely wrong on this one.
Jeff Miller is a Denver-based freelance writer and former editor of EnCompass.
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