Canyon Journeys

08/29/2026

08/20/2026

🏛️ Have a voice in the future of one of Colorado’s Most Endangered Places!

Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site, placed on Colorado’s Most Endangered Places in 2026, is entering an important planning process, and the National Park Service wants to hear from you.

The National Park Service has begun a concept study to explore options for the future of Bent’s Old Fort and the visitor experience. Public input is an important part of that process.

CPI encourages community members, visitors, partners, and anyone connected to this nationally significant place to learn more and share their thoughts.

A special thank you to Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site and Visit La Junta for hosting a public work session yesterday, giving the community an opportunity to learn more about the planning process, ask questions, and hear how to participate.

📲 Learn more and submit your comments by scanning the QR code or visiting the NPS planning page: https://parkplanning.nps.gov/beolalternatives

📅 Comment period closes October 23, 2026.

This is your opportunity to participate in the conversation and help inform the planning process for one of Colorado’s Most Endangered Places. Comment today!

08/19/2026

Love old tracks and maps!

Raton Pass and the Santa Fe Trail
The actual Santa Fe Tail over Raton Pass itself is not as easy to find as much has happened in the last 200 years. The Old Santa Fe Trail (SFT) started in 1821, In southern Colorado and northern New Mexico it was surpassed by Wootton’s Road in 1866, which was exceeded by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad switchback in 1879. And remember there were dozens of little offshoots of the trail made by travelers when a section was impassible by weather or nature and they just went around the obstacle—making another slight deviation. Then came Old Federal Highway 85 and 87. This being replaced by I-25. There are also old logging roads, roads made for the construction of the railroad tunnel, and you also must throw in today’s off-road vehicles that have made their own paths in the area. Also, when the railroad made the tunnel through the mountain pass, the old switchback was abandoned, and the railroad bed is now used as trails. You can see the confusion of finding the original SFT today.

From Trinidad, CO. going south the Old Santa Fe Trail basically follows I-25 staying north and east of Raton Creek. Once in New Mexico the SFT headed directly south to the old Raton Pass, which is today, directly on top of the railroad tunnel. The new pass is approximal 1,500 feet to the east as todays I-25. The original SFT continued south from the old pass. When Wootton made his road, he used the SFT south of today’s Wootton I-25 exit to the old Raton Pass. It headed west from the old pass and looped around the mountain. It was probably a better grade as the road was now being used for the Barlow & Sanderson Stage Line to Santa Fe also. The original SFT and Wootton’s road met again south of the old town of Lynn and into Raton, NM. The AT&SF Railroad follow the original SFT into Raton.

Note: All map references were made using an original set of detailed SFT maps drawn by Karl & Kenyon Riddle of Raton, NM., and their book “Records and Maps of the Old Santa Fe Trail (1963) along with Google maps.

08/18/2026

~Upper Cimarron Spring~
Also known as Flagg Spring, is located a short distance north of the Santa Fe Trail on a minor tributary of the Dry Cimarron near Boise City, Oklahoma.
Flagg Spring received its name from one of the first wagon trains that came through. It was a very dry year, and the traders had had no water since the Middle Cimarron Spring, well to the east. About a half mile from the upper spring they shot a buffalo and discovered water in its paunch, thereby indicating that there was a waterhole nearby. They backtracked along the buffalo's trail, found the spring, and watered their thirsty stock and filled their barrels. A white flag was left on the nearby hill and a messenger was sent back to the next train informing it about the "flagged spring."
It was a major spring and camp site on the Santa Fe Trail, and it was here that Daniel Monroe was buried after he was mortally wounded at McNees Crossing. Several battles also occurred here, one in 1828 during Monroe's funeral, when five Indians were killed, and another later that year when Comanches killed a man named Means, who was the captain of a caravan.
Abundant historical debris reflects the many trail camps around a large spring, which has been dammed up to form a small lake. Numerous artifacts dating to the era of the Santa Fe Trail and earlier times have been recovered at the site including a metal projectile points, Mexican glazed ceramics, an 1873 dime, an 1876 "Quar Dol" coin, and an 1869 "5 cents" piece.
Another aspect of this extremely important site is an immense quarry and habitation site that dates to prehistoric and historical Indian times. The adjacent hill and outcrops are formed of gray quartzite and a caramel-colored chalcedony, and literally thousands of cores, flakes, tools, and other artifacts litter the ground. Several tipi rings are also present, and the arroyo bank below the dam has a rich, dark midden layer in it that is 6-9 ft thick and laden with burned bone, fire-cracked rock, mussel shells, and artifacts.
This is undoubtedly one of the largest village sites in the Dry Cimarron Valley. Also present at the site are numerous rockshelters (some with walls added on) and midden areas on and around the hill above the spring where Monroe is reportedly buried.

Article Source; “Stone Circles, Ancient Forts, and Other Antiquities of the Dry Cimarron Valley” A study of the Cimarron Seco Indians by Joe Winter

08/17/2026

07/19/2026

07/17/2026

This Picture of cowboys working for the “J J outfit “ was taken July 2, 1901 on a street in Las Animas, Colorado. Men from left to right: Ed Malloy, Dan Davis, Harley Neher, Luther Dennison, Lee Tilibetts, Alton Bright, Dan Cullinane, Jess King me q Dr, Bent King, and M. B. Darling. From the Collection of the Denver Public Library, Western History Department.