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The Cuchara Valley has something for almost everyone. With San Isabel National Forest surrounding Cuchara, there are a lot of opportunities for camping, hiking, mountain biking, hunting, cross country skiing, and fishing. Public access for fishing can be found at Bear and Blue Lakes at the Cuchara Recreation Area south of La Veta and at Lathrop State Park just 4 miles from Silver Mountain Preserve. Trail information can be obtained from the San Isabel National Forests office in La Veta. Just one hour's drive from La Veta is the spectacular Great Sand Dunes National Park.
New excursion train service in the San Luis Valley began last May, and enables one to make direct, same-day trips over La Veta Pass or along the Toltec Gorge from Alamosa on the San Luis and Rio Grande Railroad. The trains, consisting of climate-controlled coaches and a food service car, pulled by diesel locomotives, will run daily from Alamosa, across the 9,242-foot high La Veta Pass, to the town of La Veta. Passengers will be able to board in La Veta. Another train will connect Alamosa to a connection with the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad at Antonito, where passengers may continue their journeys on the steam-powered narrow gauge train to Osier, CO and return the same day. The new excursion trains will run through mid-October; they are the first regularly scheduled trains on these portions of the old Denver and Rio Grande in over 50 years.
There are several excellent golf courses within minutes of Silver Mountain Preserve. The closest courses are La Veta's Grandote Peaks Golf Club by Tom Wieskoff (10 minutes from the ranch), Walsenburg Golf Course (20 minutes), Colorado City Golf Courses (35 minutes), and Pueblo Golf Courses (1 hour).
Skiing can be found at the Taos Ski Area, just 1 1/2 hours drive South of Silver Mountain Nature Preserve on I-25. Taos Ski Valley is one of the gems of North American skiing and is consistently rated in the top 25 ski destinations. The terrain is 20% green slope, 24% blue, 45% black diamond and 11% double black diamond. There are 12 lifts, 72 trails with an annual snowfall of 312 inches.
Wolf Creek Ski Area is located 1 1/2 hours from Silver Mountain Preserve on U.S. Highway 160. Wolf Creek enjoys the beautiful setting of the San Juan Mountains. The versatile terrain at Wolf Creek includes 1,600 acres along a high alpine ridge serviced by two triples, two doubles, one quad chairlift, and one magic carpet. Average snowfall is 465 inches earning a reputation for "The Most Snow in Colorado."
Cuchara Ski Valley was closed this past season with plans to open in the very near future. It is located 17 miles from the ranch on Highway 12. From a peak elevation of 10,810', there is 1,562' of varying terrain slope, 24 runs on 250 skiable acres of great snow. Snowmaking covers over 80% of the ski area.
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