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36-669: The reservoir receives most of its water from Colorado's Western Slope through the Alva B. Adams Tunnel and the Boulder Feeder Canal, both part of the Colorado-Big Thompson Project . Some of the stored water is used as part of Boulder's municipal water supply and some is used for agricultural purposes in Boulder and Weld counties. The reservoir's surface area is 700 acres. According to Boulder's Parks and Recreation Department,

72-574: A medical and healing practice in Pagosa Springs. The medical center in the town is named after her. In the 1930s, Cora Woods built a geothermal swimming pool and several small cabins on the Northeast corner of land she purchased from Bill Lynn, a local entrepreneur. There were a total of 23 cabins with no electricity, dirt floors, wood stoves, and oak iceboxes. In the 1950s, the Giordano family purchased

108-475: A result there are a number of outdoor recreational options that may include rock climbing, hiking, skiing, horseback riding and other activities. Crested Butte , Aspen , Telluride , and Vail are skiing areas. National forests include White River National Forest , Grand Mesa National Forest , Gunnison National Forest , Uncompahgre National Forest , and the San Juan National Forest . Black Canyon

144-818: Is in the Gunnison National Park. Glenwood Springs has the world's largest hot springs pool, fairy caves, and whitewater rafting. Events in Aspen include the Aspen Musical Festival, the Wine and Food Classic, and Theatre Aspen. Vineyards and wineries are found in Palisade and Grand Junction. Mesa Verde National Park is the home of cliff-dwellings of the Ancient Puebloans . Dinosaur National Monument and Colorado National Monument are other areas of interest. Two of

180-474: Is land and 0.027 square miles (0.07 km ), or 0.53%, is water. The area around Pagosa Springs has numerous large waterfalls, including Treasure Falls to the east of town off of Hwy 160 just past the Wolf Creek Pass summit. Archuleta County School District 50-JT operates the community's public schools. Pagosa Springs High School is the comprehensive high school. Other recreational activities in

216-460: Is popular among anglers, especially those fishing for walleye, smallmouth bass, and catfish. In recent years, the State of Colorado has stocked the reservoir with black crappie, saugeye, and rainbow trout. Ice fishing is also possible when the lake is frozen. The reservoir was completed in 1955. Colorado Western Slope The Western Slope is a colloquial term generally understood to describe

252-562: Is sparsely populated, containing 38% of Colorado's area but only 10.7% of its population. The region had a population of 563,138 in July 2013, an increase of 0.6% on the previous year, and had a low growth rate over the previous three years compared to the rest of the state. The most populated areas of the Western slope are the Tri County area, which contains Grand Junction , Montrose , and Delta, and

288-570: Is the county seat , the most populous community, and the only incorporated municipality in Archuleta County , Colorado , United States. The population was 1,571 at the 2020 census . Approximately 65 percent of the land in Archuleta County is either San Juan National Forest , Weminuche and South San Juan wilderness areas, or Southern Ute Indian reservation land . Pagosa Springs is located approximately 35 miles (56 km) north of

324-462: Is the more populous portion of the state. The Western Slope, though without an official definition, generally is understood to include Delta , Dolores , Eagle , Garfield , Grand , Gunnison , Hinsdale , La Plata , Mesa , Moffat , Montezuma , Montrose , Ouray , Pitkin , Rio Blanco , Routt , San Juan , San Miguel , and Summit counties and portions of Archuleta , Mineral , and Saguache counties. The Western Slope has about 70% of

360-572: The Fort Uncompahgre and Fort Davy Crockett at the center for trapping furs at Brown's Hole . The trading posts were used to trade furs for supplies or goods. Trappers and explorers include Kit Carson and Jim Bridger . They and others guided John C. Frémont (1843–53), John W. Gunnison (1853), and John Wesley Powell (1869) on their expeditions into the Western Slope. Once the demand for beaver furs declined and beaver had been over-trapped,

396-544: The Grand Junction area's most prominent economic sector is health care. Grand Junction and surrounding Mesa County is a regional healthcare hub serving approximately 11 counties in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming, which includes more than 500,000 people. Colorado's Western Slope is home to several colleges and universities: The Western Slope has climate zones that include the desert, mountains, mountain lakes, and river valleys. As

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432-537: The Grand Valley , where the Town of Palisade is recognized as the center of Colorado Wine Country, with over 20 wineries, and purveyor of Palisade peaches. Much of the area's economy continues to be dependent upon energy extraction services and tourism. The region contains plentiful sources of oil, natural gas, uranium, and coal. Although much of the area's economy is still dominated by energy extraction services and tourism,

468-649: The New Mexico border, at 7,126 feet (2,172 m) above sea level on the Western Slope of the Continental Divide . This combination of high desert plateau and the Rocky Mountains to the north and east creates an unusually mild climate, especially in the summer months. Pagosa sees around 300 days of sun each year, as well as four distinct seasons. The town is located in the upper San Juan Basin , surrounded by

504-489: The 1990s, the town built a new pipeline and municipal bridge to deliver mineral springs water to a new resort. On October 5, 1911, a flood occurred in Archuleta County, destroying the town's water supply pipeline and all the bridges throughout the county, including the bridges across the San Juan River. A cable was installed across the river providing residents a way to cross, and also to distribute food to those stranded by

540-470: The 3-million-acre (4,700 sq mi; 12,000 km ) San Juan National Forest, and adjacent to the largest wilderness area in the state of Colorado, the Weminuche Wilderness . The town is named for a system of sulfur springs, Pagosa hot springs , located there, which includes the world's deepest geothermal hot spring . The "Mother" spring feeds primitive and developed hot springs located on

576-591: The Civil War, the United States government considered building a convalescent hospital in Pagosa Springs. However, the hospital project was cancelled, and the lands platted by the U.S. Army were sold to private parties who capitalized on the thermal mineral springs. Along the banks of the San Juan river, simple wooden bathhouses were constructed. In the late 1880s, Dr. Mary Winter Fisher ventured west from Chicago to found

612-460: The Gunnison and Colorado River basins between 6500 B.C. and A.D. 200. From about 350 B.C. to A.D. 1300, Puebloans lived in southwestern Colorado, including Mesa Verde . The Puebloans, while also continuing to hunt and gather food, were the first to farm and irrigate crops on the Western Slope. They left the area in the late 13th century, following a period of extensive drought. The Ute people came to

648-538: The Intermountain area, containing Glenwood Springs , Aspen , and Vail . Grand Junction is the largest city between Denver, Colorado, and Salt Lake City, Utah, with a population of 61,881 (2016, US Census Bureau). According to the State Demographer's Office, the population of the Western Slope is estimated to grow by two-thirds by 2050. Mesa County is expected to grow to 236,554 residents, accounting for 25% of

684-535: The Utes became routes for roads, stage lines, highways, and railways. Spanish explorers visited the Western Slope in the 18th century. Juan de Rivera explored the area in 1765, followed in 1776 by the Domínguez–Escalante expedition . Fur trappers, also called mountain men , of European descent entered the area to trap beaver for their furs. Trading posts were established on the Western Slope beginning in 1828 with

720-707: The Utes relinquishing their land east of the Continental Divide. They maintained most of their land in the Western Slope with the treaty. The Utes were pushed out of much of the Western Slope after gold was found in the San Juan Mountains , including through the Brunot Agreement . Utes were removed from the state after the Meeker Massacre of 1879. A reservation was created in Utah for the tribes that participated in

756-525: The Western Slope from the Great Basin and ranged through the area beginning about A.D. 1300. Their way of life, called the Mountain Tradition, relied on hunting mule deer, elk, rabbit, and buffalo. They also gathered berries, roots, nuts and seeds. They frequented the area's hot springs, including the areas of Pagosa Springs , Glenwood Springs , and Steamboat Springs . Many of the trails established by

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792-471: The Western Slope. Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden 's expedition of 1872 to 1873 resulted in maps of the Western Slope that were later used by investors, mining engineers, railroad owners, and others leading the western expansion into western Colorado. After contact with people of European descent, there were a number of treaties to define boundaries for Native Americans, including the Treaty of 1868 that resulted in

828-499: The area include downhill and cross country skiing at nearby Wolf Creek ski area and snowmobiling in the surrounding National Forest. Summertime activities include fishing, hiking, and rafting. The area is also a popular destination for hunters, who harvest elk, deer, and other game animals. "Downtown Pagosa Springs" was the final destination for a duo of truckers in the 1975 country song "Wolf Creek Pass" by C. W. McCall . From Wolf Creek pass to town, U.S. Highway 160 goes through

864-508: The chief recreation activities at the park are "boating, swimming, sun bathing, water skiing, fishing, picnics, walking, running, cycling and wildlife viewing." The reservoir has a robust Aquatics nuisance species mitigation program. All watercraft including stand up paddleboards, kayaks canoes belly boats and motorboats require a valid annual City of Boulder boat permit to use the facility. The facility prohibits dogs May 15 - Labor day and charges admission fees April - October. The reservoir

900-541: The flood. Many structures were damaged or destroyed including the electric plant. Train service as well as mail delivery halted in Pagosa Springs due to the train tracks being washed out. Pagosa Springs is located 47 miles (75 km) east of Durango . The San Juan River flows through the middle of town. According to the United States Census Bureau , the town has a total area of 4.88 square miles (12.64 km ), of which 4.85 square miles (12.57 km )

936-569: The fur trade was greatly diminished. In 1858 and 1859, the Gold Rush into Colorado brought miners into the region and mining towns like Breckenridge . Mining districts were established in the San Juan Mountains, Gunnison River Valley, Sawatch Mountains and Elk Mountains. The initial interest was panning for gold in rivers and that grew over the decades to including mining for ore, coal, and fuel below ground. Many mining towns were established in

972-682: The hot springs for centuries; the area was considered "sacred ground". In Navajo cosmology, Pagosa Springs is the place where the People (Diné) emerged from their Fourth World underground to the Fifth World, this one, as Aileen O'Bryan records in The Dîné: Origin Myths of the Navaho Indians . In 1859, a white settler "discovered" the springs and developed them. In 1881, a bathhouse was first built there for paying customers. The Ute people called

1008-493: The many rivers of the Western Slope are the Colorado River and Crystal River . Voters narrowly approved a November 2020 ballot measure that directed the commission that oversees CPW to develop a plan to begin to reintroduce wolves by the end of 2023 on the Western Slope. The wolves are managed and designated as a non-game species, meaning they cannot be hunted , with fair compensation being offered for livestock killed by

1044-561: The massacre. The Southern and Ute Mountain Utes have land in southern Colorado, the Southern Ute Indian Reservation and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe Reservation . The region has a rich heritage in farming and ranching, with agribusiness remaining a key industry for most of the western slope. It is historically an energy hub, with coal, oil, uranium, and natural gas production. The Western Slope region

1080-668: The part of the state of Colorado west of the Continental Divide . Bodies of water west of the Divide flow toward the Pacific Ocean ; water that falls and flows east of the Divide heads east toward the Gulf of Mexico . The Western Slope encompasses about 33% of the state, but has just 10% of the state's residents. The eastern part of the state, including the San Luis Valley and the Front Range ,

1116-402: The population growth on the Western Slope and become the 10th most populous county in the state. In 2015, the total population on the Western Slope was 563,766 and is projected to increase 67.2% to 942,463 residents in 2050. Economic activity has primarily centered around ranching, mining, and tourism. Fruit farming is also prevalent in areas along the Colorado and Gunnison rivers, including

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1152-408: The predators. Passage of the referendum was opposed by many cattle ranchers, elk hunters, farmers and others in rural areas that argue wolf reintroduction is bad policy which will threaten the raising of livestock and a $ 1 billion hunting industry. Pagosa Springs, Colorado Pagosa Springs ( Ute language : Pagwöösa , Navajo language : Tó Sido Háálį́ ) is a home rule municipality that

1188-512: The property from Cora Woods. The Giordanos were European coal miners who had settled in the Walsenburg, Colorado area. They dug additional geothermal wells, and built an enclosed bathhouse next to the thermal water swimming pool. In the 1980s, Pagosa Springs received federal funding from the Department of Energy to drill two geothermal wells to heat buildings in the small downtown area of town. In

1224-529: The state's water. The Colorado River and its tributaries divide the region into north and south at Grand Junction, Colorado . The area has a climate similar to that of the Great Basin . Paleo-Indians , early nomadic hunter-gatherers , followed large game throughout the Western Slope beginning about 12,000 B.C. according to archaeological evidence found at the Mountaineer Archaeological Site near Gunnison . Ancestral Puebloans inhabited

1260-465: The sulfur-rich mineral springs Pah gosah , which is commonly translated in modern documents as "healing waters"; however according to Bill Hudson writing for the Pagosa Daily Post , a Ute elder once translated the phrase as "water ( pah ) that has a bad smell ( gosah )" whereas the Archuleta County government states that "pagosa" is a Ute word meaning "healing or "boiling water." After

1296-439: The upper banks of the San Juan River, which flows through town. The primitive springs are freely accessible to the public, but are generally not for entering or interacting with because of the extreme water temperature. Developed springs feed soaking pools that are hosted by three privately owned soaking locations within town. The water from the "Mother" spring is approximately 144 °F (62 °C). Local indigenous people used

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