Eastern Plains
Las Animas County
19 Porch Notes tied to Las Animas County — the local details that change from one part of Colorado to the next.
Money and taxes (1)
Home and property (1)
Water and land (4)
Water and land
Around Trinidad, the Purgatoire River sits inside the Arkansas water system
Surface water in Las Animas County is part of the Arkansas River Basin and is administered by the state's Water Division 2, so a property's water question is rarely as simple as 'there's a river nearby.'
Read note ->Water and land
The stone walls radiating from the Spanish Peaks are famous volcanic dikes
The long rock ridges that fan out from the base of the Spanish Peaks are radial dikes, hardened sheets of igneous rock left when molten material filled cracks and the softer ground around them wore away.
Read note ->Water and land
To launch a boat on Trinidad Lake, plan for an inspection first
Trinidad Lake State Park allows boating, but motorboats need a pre-launch inspection for aquatic nuisance species, so showing up with a boat is not the same as being ready to put it in the water.
Read note ->Water and land
Trinidad Dam was built for more than recreation, and the lake level shows it
The dam that holds back Trinidad Lake is run by the Army Corps of Engineers as a multipurpose project for flood control, irrigation, and recreation, so the reservoir is managed to handle high water, not just to keep a full lake for boats.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire (3)
Outdoors and wildfire
At Fishers Peak State Park, the summit trails close in spring for nesting raptors
Fishers Peak State Park sits just south of Trinidad, and its upper trails close part of each year so peregrine falcons can nest undisturbed, so the day you can reach the top depends on the calendar.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Las Animas County's plains edge holds part of the Comanche National Grassland
The eastern side of the county includes a piece of the Comanche National Grassland, open prairie and canyon country the Forest Service manages where public access takes some planning.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
West of Aguilar, the Spanish Peaks rise into national forest and wilderness
The high country around the Spanish Peaks is national forest land, with a designated wilderness where motors and bikes are not allowed, so the rules change as you move up the mountain.
Read note ->Cars and driving (3)
Cars and driving
Cordova Pass is a high gravel road that closes for the winter
Cordova Pass crosses the high country near the Spanish Peaks on a gravel forest road above 11,000 feet, and it closes in winter, so it is a seasonal back route rather than a year-round road.
Read note ->Cars and driving
South of Trinidad, I-25 climbs Raton Pass into winter weather
Interstate 25 crosses Raton Pass at the New Mexico line south of Trinidad, a high stretch that can see snow, wind, and closures when the rest of the day looks fine.
Read note ->Cars and driving
The Highway of Legends links Trinidad to the high country on Colorado 12
Colorado Highway 12, the Highway of Legends, is a designated scenic byway that climbs from Trinidad through old coal towns and over Cuchara Pass toward La Veta, a mountain drive worth treating as one.
Read note ->Local rules (1)
History and culture (6)
History and culture
Downtown Trinidad is a National Historic District called El Corazon de Trinidad
The brick-paved heart of downtown Trinidad is a listed National Historic District, which can affect how older buildings there are changed or restored.
Read note ->History and culture
Felipe Baca is remembered as a founder of Trinidad
The county seat traces its start to Hispanic pioneer Felipe Baca, who is credited with settling the Purgatoire valley around 1860 and drawing other families there, and the town became the seat when Las Animas County was created in 1866.
Read note ->History and culture
Raton Pass was once crossed by a private toll road run by 'Uncle Dick' Wootton
The famous crossing south of Trinidad once charged a fee, after frontiersman Richens 'Uncle Dick' Wootton built and operated a toll road over Raton Pass in the 1860s.
Read note ->History and culture
The A.R. Mitchell Museum fills a 1906 department store on Main Street
Trinidad's museum of Western art honors local painter Arthur Roy Mitchell and sits inside the historic Jamieson department store building in the heart of downtown.
Read note ->History and culture
The coke ovens west of Trinidad explain how this county was built
Stone coke ovens and old company towns along the Highway of Legends are physical reminders that coal mining shaped where people settled in Las Animas County.
Read note ->History and culture
The Ludlow site north of Trinidad tells a powerful chapter of Colorado labor history
Las Animas County was a center of the Colorado coalfield strikes, and the Ludlow site, where lives were lost in 1914, is a national historic landmark worth visiting thoughtfully.
Read note ->