CORTEZ: The heart of Southwest Colorado

When you drive into Cortez, Colorado, you have reached the "Heart of Southwest Colorado" and have entered into Mesa Verde Country. The setting for Cortez features the La Plata Mountains to the east, the Great Sage Plain, and the Sleeping Ute Mountain (left) on the western vista.

Cortez dates from 1886, but the area's occupied history goes back to prehistoric times, as evidenced by the cliff dwellings in the national park and the multitude of other archaeological sites on the valley floor. Long after the Ancestral Puebloans abandoned their homes around 1300 A.D., members of the Ute Tribe entered the area.

Ute Territory changed dramatically at the end of the 19th century, when a mining rush brought European settlers to the area. The miners were soon followed by loggers, farmers and ranchers. The landscape was long dominated by dryland farms, but the completion of the Dolores Project and McPhee Reservoir brought irrigation water to the area, and alfalfa hay is now grown side by side with pinto beans. Cortez is the center of a growing summer tourism trade, with Indian dances, concerts in the park, sports events and a variety of other activities.

Cortez Chamber of Commerce: 970-264-2360

Luminarias light up Mesa Verde

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