Mosca Pass, elevation , is a

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

in Alamosa and Huerfano counties in the Sangre de Cristo Range in southern Colorado. The pass lies on the eastern border of the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve about 40 miles west of

Walsenburg, Colorado Walsenburg is the Colorado municipalities#Statutory city, statutory city that is the county seat of and the List of cities and towns in Colorado, most populous municipality in Huerfano County, Colorado, Huerfano County, Colorado, United States. ...

. It marks the boundary between the Great Sand Dunes National Preserve to the west and San Isabel National Forest to the east, and it also lies on the border between Alamosa and Huerfano counties. Mosca Pass Trail, which starts near the Great Sand Dunes National Park visitor center and is impassable to vehicles, lies on the west side of the pass, and Forest Road 580 begins and heads east from the top of the pass, becoming County Road 580 after passing the national forest boundary. The terrain is a mix of montane meadows,

ponderosa pine ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine, is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is t ...

woodlands, and

Douglas-fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is the tallest tree in the Pinaceae family. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Or ...

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

. The pass was previously traversed by the former Colorado State Highway 150. Mosca Pass was named for Luis de Moscoso Alvarado, whose scouting parties may have reached this area about 1542.

References

Landforms of Alamosa County, Colorado Landforms of Huerfano County, Colorado Mountain passes of Colorado {{Colorado-geo-stub