I had heard about this small, out of the way town lying between two mountain ranges in a wide valley of large ranches. It's setting gives it spectacular views of the Sangre de Christo range to the west and the Wet Mountains to the east. They seem so close you can touch them, probably because a number of the peaks are over 14,000 feet. I spent a day and night here, walked the main street, talked to some locals, and had a great Mexican meal sitting on an outdoor patio.
Westcliffe was founded in the mid-1880s by the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad near the already-existing Silver Cliff, a booming silver mining town just to the east. With the arrival of the railroad, most of the business moved from Silver Cliff to Westcliffe. It became the county seat of Custer County in 1928.
Today the town has around 500 residents and a decidedly serene feeling about it.
I'll let Westcliffe tell you about itself:
5 comments:
Hi Joe, Did you go through Gunnison? Did you see the Black Canyon? How about the Great Sand Dunes? Enquiring minds want to know!!! :-)
Black Canyon coming up!
I'm ready to move to Westcliffe. Looks gorgeous!
It's great to find your blog Joe and Tracy. You talked for years about taking a trip like this. You have some beautiful photos. I was happy to see your photo of the Jones Theater in Westcliffe CO. I will be playing bluegrass there on Sunday Oct. 17.
Your old NGS friend, Tom Gray
My Heart–Home for the past 26 years. So much to experience both inside the Wet Valley and out. Central to West, Southwest, Northern Delights, etc.,...
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