La Veta Pass is the name associated with two nearby mountain passes in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of south central

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, both lying on the boundary between Costilla and Huerfano counties. Old La Veta Pass (officially La Veta Pass), elevation , was at one time a main travel route between the San Luis Valley and

Walsenburg The City of Walsenburg is the Statutory City that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Huerfano County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 3,049 at the 2020 census, down from 3,068 in 2010. History Walsenbur ...

, first on the narrow gauge Denver and Rio Grande Railway, and later on a wagon road and then highway following the same alignment. The route featured two tight curves on the eastern approach to the summit, making the grade feasible for railroad operation, but leaving the route less than satisfactory as a highway. It is now an unpaved and lightly traveled back road. New La Veta Pass (officially North La Veta Pass), elevation , lies about 1.6 miles northeast of the old pass and is now the principal highway route through this part of the mountain range, carrying

U.S. Highway 160 U.S. Route 160 (US 160) is a 1,465 mile (2,358 km) long east–west United States highway in the Midwestern and Western United States. The western terminus of the route is at US 89 five miles (8 km) west of Tuba City, Arizo ...

. While this new route is slightly higher, it has no sharp curves and is thus better suited to modern highway traffic. These two passes should not be confused with yet another Sangre de Cristo crossing having a similar name: Veta Pass, elevation , lies about 7.7 miles southeast of Old La Veta Pass. When the Denver and Rio Grande Railway decided to convert its line over the Sangre de Cristo from narrow gauge to standard gauge, it elected to follow a new route over Veta Pass, completing the project in 1899. In 2003 the San Luis and Rio Grande Railroad took over operation of the line. The

Rio Grande Scenic Railroad The Rio Grande Scenic Railroad of Colorado was a heritage railway that operated from 2006 to 2019 in and around the San Luis Valley as a subsidiary of the San Luis and Rio Grande Railroad. The heritage railroad ceased operating excursions followi ...

operated steam excursion trains between

Alamosa Alamosa is a home rule municipality and the county seat of Alamosa County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 9,806 at the 2020 United States Census. The city is the commercial center of the San Luis Valley in south-central Colora ...

and La Veta over the pass before it went into receivership in 2019.

References

{{reflist Mountain passes of Colorado Rail mountain passes of the United States Landforms of Costilla County, Colorado Landforms of Huerfano County, Colorado Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad