Comanche National Grassland
Encyclopedia
Comanche National Grassland is a National Grassland located in southeastern Colorado
, United States
. It is the sister grassland of Cimarron National Grassland
and contains both prairie
grassland
s and canyon
s. It is separated into two sections, each operated by a local ranger
district, one of which is in Springfield
and the other of which is in La Junta
. The grassland is administered by the Forest Service together with the Pike
and San Isabel
National Forests, and the Cimarron National Grassland
, from common headquarters located in Pueblo, Colorado
.
Elevations on the Grassland range from 3,900 feet (1189 mts) in the southeastern corner of the Carrizo Unit on the Oklahoma
border to 6,200 feet (1890 mts) on Fallas Mesa in the northwestern art of the same unit. Average annual precipitation on the grassland ranges from 12 inches at La Junta to 17 inches at Springfield (305 to 432 mm). Summer temperatures are hot with the average high above 90 (32C); winters are cold with average low temperatures in January below 20 degrees (minus 7 C). Vegetation is mostly Steppe
and Shortgrass prairie
, although pinyon and juniper
trees are found in rocky canyons and cottonwoods and willow
s grow near streams. A few Ponderosa pine
s are found on cool, moist hillsides. Wildlife on the grassland includes Pronghorn
, Prairie dog
s, Lesser Prairie Chicken
s, Mule deer
, Elk
, Wild Turkey
, Golden Eagle
, and Swift Fox
. Three hundred and twenty-eight species of birds, including many Eastern birds at the limit of their range, have been recorded in Baca County
where most of the Carrizo unit is located.
Most of the Carrizo Unit is in the watershed of Carrizo Creek, a tributary of the Cimarron River. The Timpas Unit is in the watershed of the Purgatoire River
, also called the Purgatory and Picketwire River.
inhabited this area when the Spaniards arrived. They were pushed southward by the Comanche
in the 18th century. Tipi rings – stones holding down the edges of circular tipi
s – are common.
A branch of the Santa Fe Trail
ran through the Timpas unit and from the 1820s onward wagon trains from Missouri and Kansas loaded with goods for New Mexico followed the trail. Among the first non-Indian settlers on the Grassland was a group of eleven New Mexican families who settled along the Purgatory River in 1871. In the same year, Eugene and Mary Rourke established a ranch nearby. Homesteaders soon followed the ranchers and much of the grassland was devoted to growing Broomcorn. The Dust Bowl
of the 1930s defeated the farmers and the Federal government bought the land comprising the present National Grassland from its bankrupt owners. Comanche National Grassland was established in 1960. Grazing permits for cattle are issued by the Forest Service to ranchers for most lands belonging to the National Grassland.
An important addition occurred in 1991 when the U.S. Army transferred 16,000 acres of land in the Purgatoire River Canyon to the National Grassland. The Army lands were part of the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site
(PCMS), a 238,000 acre facility devoted to military exercises. However, In 2007, the Army announced a plan to expand the PCMS by purchasing additional land and seeking to transfer the lands of the Comanche National Grassland to Army ownership. The expansion plan, to be implemented in several phases, would increase the size of the PCMS to several millon acres, making it the largest military base in the United States. If implemented, the plan would virtually eliminate private land ownership and ranching in Southeastern Colorado as well as abolish the National Grassland and displace 17,000 people. Local citizens and politicians protested the expansion plan of PCMS. The U.S. Congress banned funds for the expansion each year from 2007 to 2010.
, one of the largest dinosaur
track-ways in the world, in the Morrison Formation
. More than 1,300 tracks of Brontosaurs and Allosaurs 150 million years old are preserved in the rocks. The canyon and the dinosaur tracks are accessible by a hiking, biking, and horseback trail that leads 8.7 miles one-way through the canyon to the Dolores Mission, the ruins of a small 19th century Catholic church, the dinosaur tracks, and the adobe-buildings of the Rourke ranch, which operated between 1871 and 1971 and is preserved as a National Historic Site. The trail is normally closed to motorized vehicles, but, on weekends, rangers lead guided tours into the canyon in all-wheel drive vehicles. Visitor must supply their own vehicles.
Vogel Canyon. This is a side canyon of the Purgatory River. There is a picnic area and eight miles of easy trails follow the mesa top or lead into the small, scenic canyon which has springs, old ruins, and rock art.
Santa Fe Trail Historic Sites. The Sierra Vista Overlook, Timpas Picnic Area, and Iron Springs preserve a section of the Santa Fe Trail. The overlook has a view of the Rocky Mountains
, 75 miles (120 km) away. Stone posts indicate the Santa Fe Trail and can be followed on foot for three miles between Sierra Vista and Timpas Picnic area. A one-half mile nature trail leads to Timpas Creek, on the few watering holes along this section of the Santa Fe Trail.
. Located just north of the Oklahoma border Picture Canyon was named for its prehistoric rock art. It is a small canyon with easy slopes, large springs, picnic tables, and a loop hiking trail 2.6 miles (4 km) long. A six mile round-trip hike can be taken by going west from the parking area into the Nort (or Holt)Canyon. On the western side of Picture Canyon is Crack Cave with walls full of rock art. One group of petroglyphs in the cave is illuminated by sunlight for only ten to twelve minutes at sunrise during the Spring and Autumn equinox. The cave is locked except during the equinoxes when tours are allowed to visit and view the illuminated petroglyphs.
Carrizo Canyon. A well-watered canyon with rock art, picnic tables, a hiking trail, and fishing for Channel Catfish
in Carrizo Creek.
Cottonwood Canyon One of the best birding areas in Colorado. A campground on private property is at the entrance to the 5-mile long canyon which is bisected by a road and bordered mostly by private property.
Campo Lek. The only publicly accessible Lesser Prairie Chicken
lek (display ground) in Colorado. The lek is often closed due to the decline of the prairie chicken population.
Primitive camping is allowed on all lands of the Comanche National Grassland except for Picketwire Canyon. Hunting is permitted for Mule deer
, Elk
, Pronghorn
, Wild Turkey
, and small game. Colorado state regulations apply.
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is the sister grassland of Cimarron National Grassland
Cimarron National Grassland
Cimarron National Grassland is a National Grassland located in Morton County, Kansas, United States, with a very small part extending eastward into Stevens County. Cimarron National Grassland is located near Comanche National Grassland which is across the border in Colorado...
and contains both prairie
Prairie
Prairies are considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type...
grassland
Grassland
Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...
s and canyon
Canyon
A canyon or gorge is a deep ravine between cliffs often carved from the landscape by a river. Rivers have a natural tendency to reach a baseline elevation, which is the same elevation as the body of water it will eventually drain into. This forms a canyon. Most canyons were formed by a process of...
s. It is separated into two sections, each operated by a local ranger
National Park Ranger
National Park Service Rangers are among the uniformed employees charged with protecting and preserving areas set aside in the National Park System by the United States Congress and/or the President of the United States...
district, one of which is in Springfield
Springfield, Colorado
The historic town of Springfield is a Statutory Town that is the county seat and most populous town of Baca County, Colorado, United States. The population was 1,562 at the 2000 census. The town was named for Springfield, Missouri, the origin of early settlers to the town...
and the other of which is in La Junta
La Junta, Colorado
The City of La Junta is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Otero County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 7,568 at the U.S. Census 2000. La Junta is located on the Arkansas River in southeastern Colorado east of Pueblo.-History:During...
. The grassland is administered by the Forest Service together with the Pike
Pike National Forest
The Pike National Forest is located in the Front Range of Colorado, USA, west of Colorado Springs and including Pikes Peak. The forest encompasses 1,106,604 acres within Clear Creek, Teller, Park, Jefferson, Douglas and El Paso counties. The major rivers draining the forest are the South Platte...
and San Isabel
San Isabel National Forest
San Isabel National Forest is located in central Colorado. The forest contains 19 of the state's 54 fourteeners, peaks over high, including Mount Elbert, the highest point in Colorado....
National Forests, and the Cimarron National Grassland
Cimarron National Grassland
Cimarron National Grassland is a National Grassland located in Morton County, Kansas, United States, with a very small part extending eastward into Stevens County. Cimarron National Grassland is located near Comanche National Grassland which is across the border in Colorado...
, from common headquarters located in Pueblo, Colorado
Pueblo, Colorado
Pueblo is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The population was 106,595 in 2010 census, making it the 246th most populous city in the United States....
.
Geography
Comanche National Grassland consists of 463,373 acres (1,891 km2) in two units: (1) Timpas, south of La Junta, and (2) Carrizo, south of Springfield. Both units have privately owned tracts of ranchland mixed in with the government-owned land.Elevations on the Grassland range from 3,900 feet (1189 mts) in the southeastern corner of the Carrizo Unit on the Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
border to 6,200 feet (1890 mts) on Fallas Mesa in the northwestern art of the same unit. Average annual precipitation on the grassland ranges from 12 inches at La Junta to 17 inches at Springfield (305 to 432 mm). Summer temperatures are hot with the average high above 90 (32C); winters are cold with average low temperatures in January below 20 degrees (minus 7 C). Vegetation is mostly Steppe
Steppe
In physical geography, steppe is an ecoregion, in the montane grasslands and shrublands and temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biomes, characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes...
and Shortgrass prairie
Shortgrass prairie
The shortgrass prairie ecosystem of the North American Great Plains is a prairie that includes lands from the eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains east to Nebraska and Saskatchewan, including rangelands in Alberta, Wyoming, Montana, North, South Dakota, and Kansas, and extending to the south...
, although pinyon and juniper
Juniper
Junipers are coniferous plants in the genus Juniperus of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on taxonomic viewpoint, there are between 50-67 species of juniper, widely distributed throughout the northern hemisphere, from the Arctic, south to tropical Africa in the Old World, and to the...
trees are found in rocky canyons and cottonwoods and willow
Willow
Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
s grow near streams. A few Ponderosa pine
Ponderosa Pine
Pinus ponderosa, commonly known as the Ponderosa Pine, Bull Pine, Blackjack Pine, or Western Yellow Pine, is a widespread and variable pine native to western North America. It was first described by David Douglas in 1826, from eastern Washington near present-day Spokane...
s are found on cool, moist hillsides. Wildlife on the grassland includes Pronghorn
Pronghorn
The pronghorn is a species of artiodactyl mammal endemic to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is often known colloquially in North America as the prong buck, pronghorn antelope, or simply antelope, as it closely resembles the true antelopes of the Old World and...
, Prairie dog
Prairie dog
Prairie dogs are burrowing rodents native to the grasslands of North America. There are five different species of prairie dogs: black-tailed, white-tailed, Gunnison's, Utah and Mexican prairie dogs. They are a type of ground squirrel, found in the United States, Canada and Mexico...
s, Lesser Prairie Chicken
Lesser Prairie Chicken
The Lesser Prairie Chicken, Tympanuchus pallidicinctus, a species in the grouse family, is slightly smaller and paler than its near relative the Greater Prairie Chicken...
s, Mule deer
Mule Deer
The mule deer is a deer indigenous to western North America. The Mule Deer gets its name from its large mule-like ears. There are believed to be several subspecies, including the black-tailed deer...
, Elk
Elk
The Elk is the large deer, also called Cervus canadensis or wapiti, of North America and eastern Asia.Elk may also refer to:Other antlered mammals:...
, Wild Turkey
Wild Turkey
The Wild Turkey is native to North America and is the heaviest member of the Galliformes. It is the same species as the domestic turkey, which derives from the South Mexican subspecies of wild turkey .Adult wild turkeys have long reddish-yellow to grayish-green...
, Golden Eagle
Golden Eagle
The Golden Eagle is one of the best known birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. Once widespread across the Holarctic, it has disappeared from many of the more heavily populated areas...
, and Swift Fox
Swift Fox
The swift fox is a small light orange-tan fox around the size of a domestic cat found in the western grasslands of North America, such as Colorado, New Mexico and Texas. It also lives in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta in Canada, where it was previously extirpated...
. Three hundred and twenty-eight species of birds, including many Eastern birds at the limit of their range, have been recorded in Baca County
Baca County, Colorado
Baca County is the southeasternmost of the 64 counties of the state of Colorado of the United States. The county population was 4,517 at U.S. Census 2000. The county seat is Springfield.- History :...
where most of the Carrizo unit is located.
Most of the Carrizo Unit is in the watershed of Carrizo Creek, a tributary of the Cimarron River. The Timpas Unit is in the watershed of the Purgatoire River
Purgatoire River
The Purgatoire River is a river in southeastern Colorado, United States. The river is also known locally as the Purgatory River or the Picketwire River...
, also called the Purgatory and Picketwire River.
History
The marks of ancient American Indians are found in the Grassland in petroglyphs on many of the rocks and cliff faces in the canyons. Some of the rock art may be as old as 8,000 years and some is so new that it depicts horses which arrived in the Southwest with the Spanish in the 16th century. The early Indians lived in rock shelters, some of which have been found in the Grassland, and practiced a hunting and gathering culture. Later, about 1000 A.D., a people called the Apishipa began farming here although like later famers their efforts ultimately failed. ApacheApache
Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
inhabited this area when the Spaniards arrived. They were pushed southward by the Comanche
Comanche
The Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...
in the 18th century. Tipi rings – stones holding down the edges of circular tipi
Tipi
A tipi is a Lakota name for a conical tent traditionally made of animal skins and wooden poles used by the nomadic tribes and sedentary tribal dwellers of the Great Plains...
s – are common.
A branch of the Santa Fe Trail
Santa Fe Trail
The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century transportation route through central North America that connected Missouri with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1822 by William Becknell, it served as a vital commercial and military highway until the introduction of the railroad to Santa Fe in 1880...
ran through the Timpas unit and from the 1820s onward wagon trains from Missouri and Kansas loaded with goods for New Mexico followed the trail. Among the first non-Indian settlers on the Grassland was a group of eleven New Mexican families who settled along the Purgatory River in 1871. In the same year, Eugene and Mary Rourke established a ranch nearby. Homesteaders soon followed the ranchers and much of the grassland was devoted to growing Broomcorn. The Dust Bowl
Dust Bowl
The Dust Bowl, or the Dirty Thirties, was a period of severe dust storms causing major ecological and agricultural damage to American and Canadian prairie lands from 1930 to 1936...
of the 1930s defeated the farmers and the Federal government bought the land comprising the present National Grassland from its bankrupt owners. Comanche National Grassland was established in 1960. Grazing permits for cattle are issued by the Forest Service to ranchers for most lands belonging to the National Grassland.
An important addition occurred in 1991 when the U.S. Army transferred 16,000 acres of land in the Purgatoire River Canyon to the National Grassland. The Army lands were part of the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site
Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site
The Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site is a 235,896 acre U.S. Army base in southeastern Colorado. The Piñon County Maneuver Site is a training site for Fort Carson.-Setting:...
(PCMS), a 238,000 acre facility devoted to military exercises. However, In 2007, the Army announced a plan to expand the PCMS by purchasing additional land and seeking to transfer the lands of the Comanche National Grassland to Army ownership. The expansion plan, to be implemented in several phases, would increase the size of the PCMS to several millon acres, making it the largest military base in the United States. If implemented, the plan would virtually eliminate private land ownership and ranching in Southeastern Colorado as well as abolish the National Grassland and displace 17,000 people. Local citizens and politicians protested the expansion plan of PCMS. The U.S. Congress banned funds for the expansion each year from 2007 to 2010.
Recreation, Timpas Unit
Picketwire Canyon is about 400 feet deep and contains the Purgatoire River track sitePurgatoire River track site
The Purgatoire River track site, also called the Picketwire Canyonlands tracksite, is one of the largest dinosaur tracksites in North America. It is located on public land of the Comanche National Grassland, along the Purgatoire River south of La Junta in Otero County, Colorado...
, one of the largest dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
track-ways in the world, in the Morrison Formation
Morrison Formation
The Morrison Formation is a distinctive sequence of Late Jurassic sedimentary rock that is found in the western United States, which has been the most fertile source of dinosaur fossils in North America. It is composed of mudstone, sandstone, siltstone and limestone and is light grey, greenish...
. More than 1,300 tracks of Brontosaurs and Allosaurs 150 million years old are preserved in the rocks. The canyon and the dinosaur tracks are accessible by a hiking, biking, and horseback trail that leads 8.7 miles one-way through the canyon to the Dolores Mission, the ruins of a small 19th century Catholic church, the dinosaur tracks, and the adobe-buildings of the Rourke ranch, which operated between 1871 and 1971 and is preserved as a National Historic Site. The trail is normally closed to motorized vehicles, but, on weekends, rangers lead guided tours into the canyon in all-wheel drive vehicles. Visitor must supply their own vehicles.
Vogel Canyon. This is a side canyon of the Purgatory River. There is a picnic area and eight miles of easy trails follow the mesa top or lead into the small, scenic canyon which has springs, old ruins, and rock art.
Santa Fe Trail Historic Sites. The Sierra Vista Overlook, Timpas Picnic Area, and Iron Springs preserve a section of the Santa Fe Trail. The overlook has a view of the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
, 75 miles (120 km) away. Stone posts indicate the Santa Fe Trail and can be followed on foot for three miles between Sierra Vista and Timpas Picnic area. A one-half mile nature trail leads to Timpas Creek, on the few watering holes along this section of the Santa Fe Trail.
Recreation, Carrizo Unit
Picture CanyonPicture Canyon (Colorado)
Picture Canyon, located in the Comanche National Grassland in southeastern Colorado, just north of the Oklahoma border, was named for its prehistoric rock art. There is evidence of prehistoric inhabitation of sites in Picture Canyon by Paleo-Indian, Archaic and Post-Archaic cultures, from about...
. Located just north of the Oklahoma border Picture Canyon was named for its prehistoric rock art. It is a small canyon with easy slopes, large springs, picnic tables, and a loop hiking trail 2.6 miles (4 km) long. A six mile round-trip hike can be taken by going west from the parking area into the Nort (or Holt)Canyon. On the western side of Picture Canyon is Crack Cave with walls full of rock art. One group of petroglyphs in the cave is illuminated by sunlight for only ten to twelve minutes at sunrise during the Spring and Autumn equinox. The cave is locked except during the equinoxes when tours are allowed to visit and view the illuminated petroglyphs.
Carrizo Canyon. A well-watered canyon with rock art, picnic tables, a hiking trail, and fishing for Channel Catfish
Channel catfish
Channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, is North America's most numerous catfish species. It is the official fish of Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Tennessee, and is informally referred to as a "channel cat". In the United States they are the most fished catfish species with approximately 8...
in Carrizo Creek.
Cottonwood Canyon One of the best birding areas in Colorado. A campground on private property is at the entrance to the 5-mile long canyon which is bisected by a road and bordered mostly by private property.
Campo Lek. The only publicly accessible Lesser Prairie Chicken
Lesser Prairie Chicken
The Lesser Prairie Chicken, Tympanuchus pallidicinctus, a species in the grouse family, is slightly smaller and paler than its near relative the Greater Prairie Chicken...
lek (display ground) in Colorado. The lek is often closed due to the decline of the prairie chicken population.
Primitive camping is allowed on all lands of the Comanche National Grassland except for Picketwire Canyon. Hunting is permitted for Mule deer
Mule Deer
The mule deer is a deer indigenous to western North America. The Mule Deer gets its name from its large mule-like ears. There are believed to be several subspecies, including the black-tailed deer...
, Elk
Elk
The Elk is the large deer, also called Cervus canadensis or wapiti, of North America and eastern Asia.Elk may also refer to:Other antlered mammals:...
, Pronghorn
Pronghorn
The pronghorn is a species of artiodactyl mammal endemic to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is often known colloquially in North America as the prong buck, pronghorn antelope, or simply antelope, as it closely resembles the true antelopes of the Old World and...
, Wild Turkey
Wild Turkey
The Wild Turkey is native to North America and is the heaviest member of the Galliformes. It is the same species as the domestic turkey, which derives from the South Mexican subspecies of wild turkey .Adult wild turkeys have long reddish-yellow to grayish-green...
, and small game. Colorado state regulations apply.
External links
- Comanche National Grassland federal website
- Wikitravel