Welcome to ColoradoTrue, a blog featuring all things Colorado, but mostly western Colorado
(and occasionally eastern Utah).
Turns out I will not be leaving Colorado after all. We moved temporarily to
Farmington NM while looking for a new house. Well, we found a house we really liked in Cortez. So, just moving
south a little ways. ColoradoTrue is still alive and well.The views from my new place are absolutely fantastic -
Mesa Verde to the south, Sleeping Ute to the west, San Juans and Lone Cone to the north, and the La Platas to the east.
This is actually the December post, but I'm doing it early to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and a Merry Christmas.
I'll be busy moving (again) from Farmington to Cortez. Until the New Year, be happy, stay safe.
Posted November 25, 2022.
COLORADO PLACES
This month we'll visit my now home town, Cortez.
This Month's Colorado Place
Last Month's Colorado Place
You say you missed some of the past Colorado Places? No problem! All of the Colorado Places that I haved presented here are archived at Highways-Byways.com.
"....get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, the lovely, mysterious, and awesome space..."
Edward Abbey
Upcoming Events
COLORADO PHOTOS
This month's photos are all in Montezuma County to celebrate my move to Cortez.
Hogan Trading Post
Fall color
Lewis, CO
Mancos, CO
Cortez, CO
Mesa Verde Natl Park
COLORADO ADVENTURES
Hikes, camping trips, road trips, off-roading, and other adventures. This month we'll be taking one of my favorite hikes. It's the Sand Canyon trail in Canyons of the Ancients National Monument about 15 miles west of Cortez.
Sand Canyon Hike
The Sand Canyon trail in Canyons of the Ancients National Monument has trailheads at both ends of
Sand Canyon. The upper trailhead is at the canyon head off of N Road near Sand Canyon Pueblo.
The lower trailhead is off of County Road G about 15 miles west of Cortez. Sand Canyon Trail is a 12 mile out and back trail that's rated as moderate. The
hike presented here starts at the lower trailhead and proceeds for about 4 miles up the trail, then returns.
Eight or so cliff dwellings and pueblos are located along the first 4 miles.
Trailhead
Castle Rock (in background)
The trailhead parking area
is basically a large area of slickrock. A large sandstone butte known as
Castle Rock greets the hiker at the beginning of the trail. Ancestral puebloans
built a pueblo around Castle Rock Butte sometime during A.D. 1200. The pueblo
contained 40 to 60 rooms, kivas, and towers. Ruins of Castle Rock Pueblo are
visible along the beginning of the hike. The ruin of an isolated tower is
located on a spur a little further up the trail from Castle Rock.
Indian Paintbrush and
Narrow Leaf Yucca
Ruin near Castle Rock
Small ruin near Castle Rock
Eroded cliff
Sleeping Ute
Tower near Castle Rock
Tower ruin
Sand Canyon
Sand Canyon trail
Saddlehorn Pueblo
Saddlehorn Pueblo about 1.4 miles from the
trailhead. It gets its name from the formation above the alcove that looks like a
saddlehorn. The cliff dwelling has two rooms in the alcove and two rooms on the rock
formation above the alcove (not visible in my photo). Saddlehorn Pueblo was probably built in
the mid 1200s, about the same time as Castle Rock Pueblo.
Saddlehorn Pueblo
If Sand Canyon is hiked in the late spring or early summer
there are bunches of wildflowers to admire in addition to the cliff dwellings and terrific scenery.
Indian Paintbrush
Desert Phlox
Sand Canyon
Sleeping Ute in distance
Corn Cob House
There are 8 or 10 very nice cliff dwellings and pueblos along just the first 4 miles of the Sand Canyon trail, which is as far as this hike takes us. Corn Cobb House is located at about the 3 mile mark, and Double Cliff House toward the end of the hike. Corn Cobb House is so named because of the kitchen litter found at the site, I think. It has a few main rooms located on a ledge with what appear to me to be storage rooms located in a narrow alcove above the main rooms. Double Cliff House is built on two levels as the name implies. The first level is on a short cliff and the second on a ledge inside the alcove.
Double Cliff House
Wild Rhubarb
This is a really fun hike, and even though I've done it twice I plan on doing it again.