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Up one levelListen as our narrator takes you back in time, down roads and into the lives from the past. Get a feel for the southwest part of Colorado and begin your own journey.
Transportation Heritage in Southwest Colorado
Travel Southwest Colorado in the footsteps of adventuresome explorers and pioneers who helped settle the region. Follow the historic route traveled by Spanish explorers Dominguez and Escalante, experience the narrow gauge railroad that transported supplies and ore to/from the area’s historic mining towns, and marvel at the Galloping Goose, half truck, half train that carried supplies, mail and passengers into the mountains until the early 1950s. Experience what life was like for adventurers who traversed the region by stagecoach. Celebrate the hundreds of miles of National Scenic Byways that today join the region together as threads woven into a tapestry of mountains, canyons, mesas, and valleys.
Travel the Northern-most Byways of Southwest Colorado
Travel historic and scenic byways, marvel at geologic wonders, endless views, engineering feats and a remarkable historic timeline that begins with indigenous tribes and moves onward with early explorers, settlers and pioneers. Visit friendly historic towns where some of time seems to have stood still.
Colorado Heritage Timeline
Travel Southwestern Colorado,rich in history and heritage. Follow a timeline beginning with the early Native American presence in the region and progressing to the settling of the west through mining, railroads,bordellos and frontier forts. Then travel into the present day with farms, orchards and wineries celebrating the richness of Southwest Colorado today.
Following in the Trail of the Ancients and Exploring the San Juan Skyway
Following in the Trail of the Ancients and Exploring the San Juan Skyway Total Number of Days/Nights: 9 Travel through the archaeological heartland of America on the Trail of the Ancients, the only National Scenic Byway dedicated solely to archaeology. Then explore the mining history of Southwest Colorado along the San Juan Skyway, an All American Road and “the most beautiful drive in America.”
American Indian Presence on the Colorado Landscape
Travel Southwestern Colorado, rich in Native American Culture and History. Home of Mesa Verde National Park, Chimney Rock Archaeological Area, Ute Indian Museum, and two unique cultural festivals, Ute Council Tree Pow Wow and the Mesa Verde Country® Indian Arts and Culture Festival.
Building a History in Southwest Colorado
Travel Southwest Colorado and explore how stone by stone and brick by brick the region’s architecture reflects the history and culture of the area. From the Ancestral Puebloans, the first people to build on this landscape, to the miners, settlers, and ranchers who each left their unique style and footprint, Southwest Colorado’s architecture continues to reflect its rich cultural heritage.
The Shady Side
Southwest Colorado has a “shady” side and the shade doesn’t come from its spectacular aspen trees. Stories of the Old West abound with adventure, intrigue, cowboys, outlaws, miners, and ladies of the evening. The miners on their days off needed the “entertainment” provided by the saloons and brothels, and the richness of the region was an invitation to the unscrupulous few who found ways to take their money rather than work for it.
