The lore of Southern Colorado was omnipresent as I drove the Highway of Legends Scenic and Historic Byway. This road is known for its impressive landscape and colorful history. To know what to look for, I downloaded an audio tour, which proved to be helpful.
You can start the 80-mile route from either Walsenburg or Trinidad and go south or north respectively. I began the journey in the Old West town of Walsenburg. Of note here is the Walsenburg Mining Museum, which tells the story of this city built on coal.
Once on Highway 12, views of volcanic formations and the iconic Spanish Peaks appear. You’ll eventually reach the town of La Veta, an art hub and home of Francisco Fort Museum. This is the last surviving, original adobe fort in Colorado, now a museum with Native American, pioneer and Spanish settler artifacts.
If you have a good eye, you might be able to make out the profiles of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson on Profile Rock, about five miles from La Veta. I had to look closely, as they’re not quite like Mt. Rushmore’s carvings.
Native Americans have a legend regarding Profile Rock. It features a band of giants that roamed the area and fought among themselves using huge boulders as weapons. The gods were angered by these battles and withheld rain as punishment. Forced to end their conflicts due to lack of water, the giants departed, leaving one warrior to guard the valley. The giants never returned, but the guard stayed as the lone sentinel. One day, he sat down to rest and the gods, noting his depth of commitment, turned him into a stone monument.
Debbie Stone
Devil's Stairsteps
The Devil’s Stairsteps is another Spanish Peaks’ landmark. The tale about this formation concerns the Devil. When earth was new, the Devil was able to leave his home to look at the world. He surveyed it from the Cuchara Valley, climbing rock stones to sit on the mountains. There he plotted to seize everything for himself. God heard of the Devil’s intentions and banished him from ever visiting earth again. His stairs, however, remain.
Down the road, Dakota Wall emerges. Nicknamed the “Backbone of the Rockies,” this geological formation dates back millions of years.
In Cuchara, I peered inside a few of the shops, including Dakota Dukes, a store that seemed to sell everything under the sun. Cuchara is Spanish for “spoon,” as the valley has a spoon shape. How it got this shape has to do with those aforementioned giants. One supposedly left his spoon on the side of the mountain in a downpour, resulting in an impression in the side of the peak.
Ascending Cuchara Pass (9,994 feet), the mountains take on meaning when you learn that, according to ancient beliefs, all life stemmed from this place.
I stopped at picturesque Monument Lake before continuing on to Stonewall. The first thing you’ll see driving into Stonewall is a massive rock wall, rising 250 feet. It’s part of the formidable Dakota Sandstone Formation. I admired the geology, then wandered into the Stonewall Shopping Bag, part general store, part café. And here’s where I found freshly baked pies. My slice of raspberry rhubarb was sublime, sweet and tart with a flaky crust.
Debbie Stone
Strawbery rhubarb pie
Near Weston, you’ll see the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, which got their name from Spanish explorers. They noted the peaks glowed red at sunrise, calling them “Sangre de Cristo,” or “Blood of Christ.”
In these mountains is a gold mine. Purportedly, an old prospector found a hefty nugget up here that supported him for a year. As time went on, he would come back to town, each trip carrying another nugget to purchase supplies. He said he was able to find the mine using the morning’s reddish tint on the snow as his guide. After he died, people searched for this motherlode, to no avail.
Segundo used to be the largest coal processing plant west of Chicago, boasting 800 coke ovens. And in nearby Cokedale, remains of the coke ovens built at the mining camp are on display. The original town still stands and is on the National Historic Register.
Before reaching Trinidad, you’ll get a good view of Trinidad Lake. Once in Trinidad, the southern terminus of the byway, head to the city’s historic downtown. Tour the Trinidad History Museum, then check out A.R. Mitchell Museum of Western Art.
Debbie Stone
Walsenburg Mining Museum
There’s also the Coal Miners Memorial Museum, for all things coal in the region. A tribute to Southern Colorado coal miners stands in the town’s center, as well as a statue of a caged canary. It pays tribute to these birds that were used to alert miners to possible danger in the mines.
Plan your travels on the Highway of Legends at colorado.com/byways/highway-legends.