Rio Grande National Forest - Colorado

Explore one of Colorado's undiscovered natural gems. The Rio Grande National Forest is filled with majestic wilderness and enough rugged recreational opportunities to satisfy the most adventurous folk!

Named for the mighty Rio Grande del Norte, or Great River of the North, as the early Spanish and Indian inhabitants of the Southwest called it, Rio Grande National Forest spans 1.86 million acres from alpine desert to the majestic Sangre de Cristo Wilderness, to the San Luis Valley, the largest agricultural alpine valley in the world.

Visitors to the Rio Grande National Forest can take advantage of four-wheel drive roads and scenic highways aw well as enjoy hiking, camping, picnicking and horseback riding. Mountain bikers are invited to explore old logging and mining roads that snake their way through the forest, and fishermen will be pleased to pull pike and trout out of secluded alpine lakes. Wintertime brings great skiing, cross-country and downhill, as well as snowshoeing, snowmobiling and backcountry touring. And if animals are your passion, this Forest is sure to please with the black bear, mule deer, elk, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, red tail hawks, wild turkeys and mountain lions, which are just some of the animals and birds that call Rio Grande National Forest home.

The U.S. Highways servicing the Rio Grande are 285 and 160. State Highway 149 takes you to Creede and over Spring Creek Pass to Lake City.