Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Sleeping & Eating
Yellow Pine Guest Ranch
( 719-742-3528;
www.yellowpine.us
; 15890 Hwy 12; cabins $105-180; horseback rides per hr $30; May-Oct;
)
The Yellow Pine is located up in Cuchara, where you can rent cute red cabins
(two to eight people) oriented perfectly with marvelous valley, meadow and West Peak
views. There are horse professionals to take you riding, old wagon wheels lining the
driveway and a stream meandering through the property.
DUDE RANCH
$$
Dog Bar & Grill
PUB FOOD
$
( 719-742-6366;
www.dogbarcuchara.com
;
34 Cuchara Ave; sandwiches from $8, large pizza from $19; from
11am in summer, reduced hr winter; )
The Dog Bar is a Cuchara institution with its wood bar,
wide inviting patio, pool table, live music on weekends and damn good pizzas.
Monument Park
Evergreen forests surround Monument Park, 29 miles south of La Veta and 38 miles west
of Trinidad on Hwy 12. The park is named for a rock formation rising from the waters of
an attractive mountain reservoir. Numerous summer activities are offered, including fish-
ing on the trout-stocked lake, horseback riding and mountain biking.
Monument Park Lake Resort
( 719-868-2226;
www.monumentlakeresort.com
;
4789 Hwy 12; tent sites $20, RV sites $20-29, cabins & lodges
$99-119; hmid-May-mid-Sep; )
This popular resort has camping and RV sites, as well as
showers and coin-operated laundry. There are also lodge rooms and cabins decorated in
Southwestern style. The resort's restaurant serves decent home-style American food. The
resort is only open in the summer, though you can fish here year round ($7 day pass per
vehicle).
CAMPGROUND
$
Purgatoire Campground
( 877-444-6777;
www.recreation.gov
;
Hwy 12; tent sites $16; May-mid-Oct; )
One of three camp-
grounds in the Spanish Peaks Wilderness Area, Purgatoire is the only one that you can re-
serve. It's located 4 miles west of Monument Lake, off Hwy 12, at the base of the Sangre
de Cristos. Closer to La Veta, just before Cuchara Pass, are the first-come, first-served
Blue Lake and Bear Lake campgrounds, also 4 miles west of the highway.
CAMPGROUND
$
