It may seem like Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve is a little off the beaten path, but whether you have just a couple of hours or several days to spend exploring, the National Park and Preserve offers great opportunities to discover, recreate and reconnect with nature. From easy strolls to sandboarding to true wilderness adventure, the unusual combination of landscapes found within Great Sand Dunes National Park nd Preserve has
something for everyone!

The best part of the secret is that the vast majority of the Park is located within Saguache County. The recent expansion of the park has allowed access to the northern backcountry boundary. Hikers, horses and pack animals may use this trailhead to access the National Park and National Forest lands in this area. Until further National Park and National Forest planning has been completed, Saguache County has granted temporary approval for horse trailer/ vehicle parking at the designated parking area near the terminus of Camino Baca Grande in the Baca Grande Subdivision, locally known as the “Liberty Gate,” just outside the northern edge of the National Park. Wagons or other horse-drawn equipment are not permitted to enter the park. For overnight use, please self-register at the Liberty Gate for a free backcountry permit.
Please call the Visitor Center at 719-378-6399 for more information, (a map of road access to the Liberty Gate is available).

The Dunes in an hour or two: If you have only a very short time to enjoy the park, try to take in the contrast between wind-swept dunes and craggy Rocky Mountains. Make your first stop the Visitor Center: watch the 20-minute film and take a peek at the exhibits. Then head into the dunes on foot. Even a short easy stroll will reveal animal and insect tracks in the sand and ever-changing ripples. Attend a ranger-guided terrace talk or nature walk during summer months. All interpretive programs are free and open to everyone.

“Can we sandboard on the dunes? What about sandskiing?” Yes! You can give either option a try, but be prepared. For most people, the trek up the dunes carrying the gear is more memorable than the slow and gritty descent. “Snowboarding in winter, when the dunes are snow-covered, is awesome!” says Noelle, an avid snowboarder. Don’t bother to wax and avoid any areas where there is vegetation growing.

Explore Medano Creek, flowing at the base of the dunes during the spring and summer months, only during years of adequate precipitation. Medano Creek exhibits a phenomenon called “surge flow.” Its surges may remind you of waves at a beach. Each time a surge occurs, a mound of underwater sand (which had temporarily dammed some of the water in the creek bed), collapses. Surge flow occurs in only a few places on Earth, and none are as easy to visit as the Great Sand Dunes!

Youngsters can spend time building sand castles, flying a kite, or sliding down the dunes. When you're ready to call it quits, find the footwash just outside the rest room building in the Dunes Parking Area.

With a little more time to spend, climb the High Dune, the prominent dune visible from the Visitor Center. Although it is not the tallest dune at the Great Sand Dunes, it looks – and feels if you’re hiking up it – impressively tall. Elevation gain to the top is 650 feet. From High Dune are splendid views only motivated hikers are privileged to see, including the spectacular Star Dune, which rises 750 feet. Star Dunes have three or more arms and are created by complex wind patterns. Star Dunes are also very photogenic; be sure to take your camera, and plenty of water, for the 4-hour round trip hike to the Star Dune. Consider a walk on the dunes around sunset. Moonlight walks on the dunes can be enchanting, and the night sky may amaze you with its brilliance!
 

OK, by now you must be convinced that there are lots of things to do in Saguache County. Miles of trails, herds of wildlife, flocks of birds, tons of art, classes and spiritual centers galore, when does it all end? When you are looking up at a star-filled sky soaking in a pool of hot mineral water – totally blissed out!

So many choices – so little time, Saguache is home to three hot springs resorts that offer different experiences to suit all preferences.

Joyful Journey Hot Springs Spa is off Hwy 17 near the junction of Hwy 285. Once a sacred site to the Utes, it’s healing waters have always attracted travelers. At the turn of the century, Mineral Hot Springs was a thriving town and folks rode the train to come enjoy the hot water. The town boasted a dance hall and the cowboys from the Arkansas Valley would ride over Hayden Pass to soak, dance and fight the Saguache cowboys – then ride back at daybreak.

Today things are a little mellower. Three outdoor soaking pools, dry sauna, massage and aromatherapy are available for your pleasure. The new retreat and conference center can accommodate 88 people, with 11 rooms having a private bath. Yurts and tipis can be rented for overnight stays, as well as dry RV and tent camping areas. The spa gift shop features skin care products, Joyful Journey brand of aromatherapy blends, snacks and refreshments. More info available on the website: www. joyfuljourneyhotsprings.com or call 719-256-4328 or 1-800-673-0656 PIN #4328.

Valley View Hot Springs is located at the base of the northern Sangre de Cristo Mountains up County Road GG off Hwy 17. Originally a resort spot for all the miners working the claims in the Sangres many of the historic buildings are still there. It is managed by the Orient Land Trust (OLT), a nonprofit land trust dedicated to the preservation of the natural resources, wildlife habitat, and open space, historic and geologic features of the northern San Luis Valley for the enjoyment of current and future generations. Visitors enjoy the facilities of Valley View Hot Springs, a rustic clothingoptional resort with natural hot spring ponds, warm swimming pool, hot tub and sauna. Additional activities highlight other distinctive features of the lands managed by OLT, which include: Colorado’s largest migratory bachelor colony of Brazilian free-tailed bats, off-grid hydroelectric and geothermal energy, an exposed, active geologic fault zone, limestone caverns, historic buildings, inactive iron mine, and town sites. For more information visit: www.olt.org.

Sand Dunes Swimming Pool is one mile north of Hooper east off Hwy 17, on County Boad B. During the early 1930s, hot water was struck near Hooper, Colorado while drillers were exploring for oil. Before being reopened in August 1995, the “Hooper Pool”, as it is affectionately called by locals, was last used for swimming in 1978. Catfish were raised in the pool in the early 1980s and then the pool sat unused for about 10 years.

The family-owned facilities include a very large swimming pool kept between 98-100 degrees and a 25 person therapy pool kept between 105-107 degrees. A large enclosure at one end of the facility assures comfort from the weather and covers the baby pool at the same time. The hot water well also heats the nearby greenhouses where organic tomatoes, cucumbers, and a variety of produce are grown. The fresh produce is sold at the pool concession stand which Channel 7 News in Denver voted “The Best Concession Stand in Colorado.” RV and camping spots with water and electric hook-ups are located right next to the facility. Tables and grills, plus volleyball, basketball, tetherball, a horseshoe pit, and a large grassy area and creek for the kids offer lots of great family fun! Nearby attractions include: The Great Sand Dunes National Monument, San Luis Lakes State Park, the UFO Watchtower, (all providing camping facilities), the famous Colorado Alligator Farm, and The Thunder Valley Speedway. Call 719-378-2807 or visit the website at: www.sanddunespool.com.

The first permanent settlements in Saguache County were established in the mid-1860s near the presentday towns of Villa Grove and Saguache. Wheat was grown and milled into flour, then transported over toll roads to mining camps in the Colorado mountains.

By the 1870s gold and silver were discovered in the Sangre de Cristos and mining camps sprang up overnight. The advent of the railroad allowed products to be shipped over the mountains and connected remote settlements with the outside world.

A robust farm and ranching sector then arose to feed the large influx of people involved in these enterprises. Sheep and cattle did very well on the lush summer pastures in the high country. Today very little of the mining remains, but the county remains an agricultural landscape.

The area around Center is the “bread basket” of the county, and San Luis Valley potatoes are famous throughout the country. Carrots, lettuce, barley and alfalfa are also grown here in the largest agricultural high altitude valley in the world. Cattle, sheep and goats graze the grasslands surrounding the towns of Moffat and La Garita.

The historic ranching industry has evolved to meet the needs of modern consumers. Many grass-fed beef enterprises produce high quality natural beef, and goat dairies make specialty cheeses and milk. Local artisans weave yarn from llamas, sheep and goats, that they raise themselves, into beautiful garments and works of art.

Saguache County is a place where the working cowboy still rides the range, checking the herd; where summer days are spent toiling in the hay fields to bring in the feed to get the stock through the long, cold high desert winters. It is a place where lonely homesteads have more horses in the corral than cars in the garage, and where dogs earn their keep; where you know your neighbor and are always ready to lend a hand during branding time.

Moffat cowboy poet, Peggy Godfrey, sums up our rural lifestyle wonderfully in this poem:
I’ve learned to see the mountains as more than stone and mud. Come to know my neighbors as more than flesh and blood. I’ve grown to see the work I do as more than passing time. Poetry means more to me than getting words to rhyme. I’m now aware each day is more than getting on with life. I see myself as more than just my role as mom or wife. Life offers me a framework like bones stripped bare and white. What I can do is flesh them in with muscle, love and light.

 

The Baca Grande derives its name from an historic land grant from King Ferdinand of Spain to the Vaca Family in 1823 in what was then “New Mexico.” In 1878, George Adams, founder of Crestone, acquired the Baca Grant and developed it into a cattle ranch. In 1900, Adams sold the Baca Grant to wealthy Philadelphians for $1.4 million.

The Philadelphians’ primary interests were the Independence Mine located on the Baca Grant. Eventually $50 million in gold was produced from the mine, bringing lots of activity and money to Crestone. Crestone soon had seven saloons, several stores, some pool halls, and a golf course.

Strangely, it was the years during the Great Depression that brought growth and prosperity back to Crestone. Alfred Collins, a major stockholder in the San Luis Valley Land and Cattle Co., first visited the Baca Grande in 1930 and devoted the rest of his life to building the Baca Grant into one of America’s foremost Hereford cattle ranches.

In 1950, Collins sold the ranch to a group primarily Interested in logging for profit.

The Arizona-Colorado Land and Cattle Company (AZL) bought the land in 1962 and once again placed emphasis on the cattle production. In 1971 the Baca Grande Corporation formed as a subsidiary of AZL and home site development was planned. This land development formed the beginnings of the current Baca Grande subdivision. The Lindesfarne Association chose Crestone for the location of a comtemplative retreat.

This new phase in prosperity also brought Canadian millionaires Maurice and Hanne Strong, who envisioned the Baca Grande as a global village where people could explore environmental and spiritual issues.

Today, Baca Residents enjoy scenic vistas, abundant wildlife, and peaceful surroundings. – Lisa Cyriacks