I had the pleasure of making a recent trip out to Costilla County to check on some properties and spend a few days enjoying the area. It was a fantastic trip including some fishing, hiking, great food, and some of the most amazing sunrises every morning as the sun came up over the mountains to the East and cast great colors on the clouds over Mount Blanca.
Easy Drive from Denver
I flew into Denver and rented a car to drive down. The drive is about 3 1/2 to four hours with not too much traffic. It’s a great drive and very scenic once you get past Pueblo. The best part was going through the La Veta Pass between Walsenburg and Fort Garland. I went in September, and the aspens were starting to change. There were a lot of yellow and green patches in the mountains, and the views along that stretch were so amazing that I had a hard time keeping my eyes on the road! That night I had dinner at Lu’s Main Street Cafe in Blanca—simple place, good food, and a solid stop to relax and have a beer after the day of traveling.
Fishing Culebra Creek
The next morning, I spent the day fishing Culebra Creek. My guide and I met up in San Luis, and then headed over to the creek. Culebra creek is a beautiful, small stream that runs out of the Sanchez reservoir. It’s private water, but the guide shop “The Solitary Angler” out of northern New Mexico has access to the creek for their guided clients. The fishing was very good. I caught several nice rainbow and brown trout using both dry flies and nymphs. There’s a good mix of faster running riffles and slow moving pools where you can sight fish to trout sipping on dries on the surface. It wasn’t crowded, and overall it was a great day on the water, with a beautiful 4 lb Brown landed in the net and safely released.
Wild Horse Mesa
After fishing, I drove out to the Wild Horse Mesa area to check out some properties. I ended up seeing wild horses twice—once right along the road and again near Sanchez Reservoir. I guess there’s truth in advertising with the name of that area! I was tired after that long day, and wanted something quick, simple but good for dinner. So, I headed to the Red Rock General Store, where I grabbed a couple of delicious Polish sausages. The owner, Mark, also owns the Red Rock Deli in Albuquerque, which was featured on the show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. He’s originally from Poland, super friendly, and they carry a lot of Eastern European food you wouldn’t expect to find out there.
Sangre de Cristo Ranches
The next morning I checked out our properties in the Sangre de Cristo Ranches. It’s great to drive through there and see the different homes people have built. There’s a wide range—from basic off-grid setups to more developed multi-story vacation homes. The Ranches covers a large area, with great diversity in the topography and tons of area to explore and find unique properties with fantastic views and natural beauty.
Great Sand Dunes and Zapata Falls
That afternoon I went to Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. I spent a few hours walking and hiking, including the Dunes Overlook Trail, the Wellington Ditch Trail, and a trail from the main parking area over toward Pinyon Flats Campground. It’s a unique place—large sand dunes with mountains right behind them. Definitely worth seeing in person. Unfortunately, nature gave me a cloudy day, so the pictures don’t 100% capture the beauty of that park and the surrounding trails. I stopped off at Zapata Falls on the way back. It’s a short, moderately rocky hike up to the falls, but not strenuous. To get to the actual waterfall, you have to wade a bit through the stream to go into a mini-slot canyon type of formation. I managed to “rock-hop” my way there without getting my shoes wet, so I was proud of myself! Once inside the waterfall area, you feel like you’re all alone completely cut-off from the world around you, and you can just listen to the beautiful sound of the rushing water, which has to be one of the most relaxing sounds in this world.
Evening and Alamosa
During this trip, I stayed at an off-grid Airbnb. It was a great, simple place to stay with one bed, a loft with a couple of other mattresses and a studio kitchen. There’s a fire-pit outside as well. I ended up eating burgers and spending some time with the owners who live on the lot next door, before heading into Alamosa for a bit. I walked around Main Street, and checked out a few spots. It’s a small town but has enough to grab a meal or just look around.
Sunrises Over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains
The memories that keep coming back to me about this trip is the sunrises over the mountains every morning. I typically wake up before sunrise, also because my body-clock was one hour ahead of the Mtn time zone, so I got to spend the time on the front porch with a coffee in my hand enjoying some of the best sunrises I remember seeing in recent history. When you’re out there in person, it’s surprising how close the mountains feel in all directions. They feel much closer than what any of the photos actually show, and between the open plains to the South and West and the numerous 14,000 peaks to the North and East, you really have the best of both worlds in terms of enjoying natural beauty.
Overall, this was a great trip, and I can’t wait to get out there again to explore more of the area.
