San Luis Valley Country

San Luis Valley Country. . , The Silver Thread Scenic and Historic Byway travels through the upper Rio Grande Valley and crosses the Continental Divide. Creede, Lake City, and South Fork are historical complements to this extraordinary scenic byway. , Our Lady of Guadalupe Church is the home of the oldest parish in Colorado. Parishioners built the first adobe and wood church in 1857. It burned in 1926 and was immediately replaced by the building that stands today. , Los caminos Antiguos Scenic and Historic Byway is Spanish for the Ancient Roads. This byway takes visitors through lands once crossed by native peoples and Spaniards, and to places settled by Hispanic and Anglo pioneers. , From Memorial Day to Labor Day, the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad travels through dramatic mountain scenery between Antonito, Colorado, and Chama, New Mexico , crossing the state line no less than thirteen times! , Pike’s Stockade, a reconstruction of the Colorado Historical Society, was erected in the winter of 1806-7 by the explorer Zebulon M. Pike and his party of eleven men. Spanish soldiers captured Pike here and escorted him to Chihuahua, Mexico, for trespassing on Spanish territory. , The Stations of the Cross Shrine features a series of powerful bronze sculptures on a high mesa overlooking the town of San Luis. Built by volunteer labor and donations of the Sangre de Cristo parish, a short trail leads to a grotto, chapel and education building. , Created by the forces of wind and sand, the Great Sand Dunes at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, are an unexpected natural phenomenon. You can visit the ever-changing shrine throughout the year. , The Colorado Historical Society’s Fort Garland Museum is a restored frontier adobe fort that served the San Luis Valley from 1858 to 1885. Once commanded by Kit Carson, today the fort interprets the lives of frontier soldiers and Hispano settlers.