Western Slope
Montezuma County
27 Porch Notes tied to Montezuma County — the local details that change from one part of Colorado to the next.
Water and land (3)
Water and land
In Montezuma Valley, much of the irrigation water comes from one big project
A lot of farm and ranch water around Cortez is delivered through the Dolores Project from McPhee Reservoir, which is separate from a home's drinking water.
Read note ->Water and land
McPhee Reservoir is the county's big boating and fishing lake
North of Cortez, McPhee Reservoir offers boat ramps and fishing, and any trailered or motorized boat must pass an aquatic-nuisance-species inspection before it launches.
Read note ->Water and land
Out here, a well permit is not a promise of unlimited water
A domestic well in rural Montezuma County comes with permit conditions and limits, and in dry country the supply is worth checking before you count on it.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire (11)
Outdoors and wildfire
At Mesa Verde, the cliff dwellings need a ranger tour and a reservation
Entering Mesa Verde's cliff dwellings generally requires a ranger-led tour you reserve ahead of time, so the famous sites take a little planning.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Below McPhee Dam, the Dolores River is a catch-and-release tailwater
The stretch of the Dolores River just below McPhee Dam is a trout tailwater with artificial-flies-and-lures-only, catch-and-release rules, and its flows depend on dam releases.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Hovenweep is a certified dark-sky park for night skies
Hovenweep National Monument, spanning the Colorado-Utah line west of Cortez, is a certified International Dark Sky Park where very low light pollution makes for clear star viewing.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Lizard Head Wilderness holds the high headwaters of the Dolores
Northeast of Dolores, the Lizard Head Wilderness rises into the high San Juans and includes the West Dolores headwaters, with foot-and-horse-only travel reached from trailheads like Navajo Lake.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Mancos State Park is a small, wakeless lake in the ponderosa pines
Just north of Mancos, Mancos State Park surrounds Jackson Gulch Reservoir, a wakeless lake for paddling and quiet boating with year-round trout fishing and forest campsites.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Mesa Verde is rich with wildlife, and a little distance lets you enjoy it best
Mesa Verde National Park is alive with deer, coyotes, around 200 bird species, and reptiles, and giving wild animals space is the simple way to enjoy them well.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
On the San Juan forest near Dolores, dispersed camping has rules
Free dispersed camping on San Juan National Forest land in the Dolores Ranger District is allowed in places but comes with distance and stay rules, not 'camp anywhere.'
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Phil's World and Boggy Draw are the county's big bike-trail systems
Montezuma County has two named mountain bike networks, Phil's World east of Cortez on BLM-managed and leased state trust land, and Boggy Draw on Forest Service land near Dolores, each with its own manager and rules.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Sand Canyon and Rock Creek trails keep you on the route
West of Cortez in Canyons of the Ancients, the Sand Canyon and Rock Creek trails are open to hiking, biking, and horses, but travel is restricted to the designated routes.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
The Dolores River State Wildlife Area is not a park
Along the Dolores River, a State Wildlife Area offers fishing, hunting, and wildlife viewing, but it is managed for wildlife and adults need a license or SWA pass to be there.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Wildfire has shaped much of the land at Mesa Verde
Large lightning-driven wildfires have burned much of Mesa Verde National Park over the years, which is why this dry pinyon-juniper country is a real fire landscape, not a tame one.
Read note ->Cars and driving (2)
Cars and driving
The San Juan Skyway climbs from Dolores over Lizard Head Pass
The San Juan Skyway runs through Dolores, Cortez, and Mancos and climbs north over high Lizard Head Pass, a paved but serious mountain drive with real winter weather.
Read note ->Cars and driving
The Trail of the Ancients is a byway, but its sites take backroads
Montezuma County's scenic byway links ancient sites and public lands, but reaching some stops means rough backroads, long distances, and little water or fuel.
Read note ->Local rules (1)
History and culture (10)
History and culture
Canyons of the Ancients protects a landscape full of ancient sites
West of Cortez, BLM-managed Canyons of the Ancients National Monument holds many archaeological sites, and visiting them comes with stewardship rules.
Read note ->History and culture
Dolores grew up around a railroad, and its oldest hotel still shows it
Dolores took shape as a stop on the Rio Grande Southern Railroad, and the town's oldest building, the Southern Hotel, was named for that line.
Read note ->History and culture
Hovenweep's stone towers sit on the Colorado-Utah line
Part of Hovenweep National Monument lies in western Montezuma County, where Ancestral Puebloans built unusual stone towers along canyon rims around AD 1200 to 1300.
Read note ->History and culture
Lowry Pueblo is a national landmark you can walk up to
Northwest of Cortez, Lowry Pueblo is a designated National Historic Landmark in Canyons of the Ancients, with standing masonry rooms and a Great Kiva you can visit on a developed trail.
Read note ->History and culture
Mancos got its name from a river, and built its main street beside it
The town of Mancos takes its name from the nearby Rio de los Mancos, and its historic commercial core grew southeast of the railroad siding, near the river.
Read note ->History and culture
Sand Canyon held a village with about three times the rooms of Cliff Palace
West of Cortez, the Sand Canyon area in Canyons of the Ancients held a 13th-century village with roughly three times the rooms of Cliff Palace, and hiking there is restricted to marked routes.
Read note ->History and culture
The big archaeology museum near Dolores changed its name in 2018
The regional archaeology museum near Dolores, long called the Anasazi Heritage Center, was renamed the Canyons of the Ancients Visitor Center and Museum in 2018.
Read note ->History and culture
The Galloping Goose in Dolores is a leftover from a vanished railroad
Dolores keeps a restored 'Galloping Goose,' a homemade motor car the Rio Grande Southern Railroad used to survive in its final decades before the line was scrapped.
Read note ->History and culture
The Ute Mountain Tribal Park protects cliff dwellings the tribe shares on its own terms
South of Mesa Verde, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe protects ancient cliff dwellings and pueblo sites in Mancos Canyon, where access is by tribal-guided tour only.
Read note ->History and culture
The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe is a sovereign neighbor in this county
Part of Montezuma County is the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation, a sovereign tribal nation centered at Towaoc, with its own government and its own rules for visitors.
Read note ->