North Park, South Park — Huerfano Park

The east side of the Sangre de Cristo Range in Huerfano County, which includes part of Huerfano Park. The view is from Huerfano County Road 583. I think that may be Mount Zwischen on the right, but I'm not sure. 

One of the meanings of the word park in the context of Colorado is "high-altitude basin." We're familiar with North Park, Middle Park, and South Park, but there are other not-so-well-known parks in Colorado, and one of them is right here — you guessed it — in Huerfano County. It's called Huerfano Park.

A map showing the location of Huerfano Park. 

I found this map that shows the location of Huerfano Park. It's larger than I think it ought to be, for the shaded area includes lots of different terrain, including land that doesn't match the Colorado definition of park. I found the map in this 1959 book:

The title page of a book about Huerfano Park. It was published in 1959. That might seem dated, but I don't think the rocks or the geology have changed much, making the book still current. 

Here's a passage from the book that describes Huerfano Park's location:

"The Huerfano Park area comprises about 240 square miles in the extreme northern part of the Raton basin, and about 50 square miles to the north on the western slope of the Wet Mountains and on the eastern slope of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. This small area displays both the compressional effects on sedimentary rocks created by intense eastward thrusting in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains on the west and vertical uplifting of the Wet Mountains on the east during the Laramide revolution."

One of the things I like about Huerfano Park is that it's empty, empty of people. You can drive for miles and only pass one or two other cars. I took a trip to Mosca Pass at the western edge of the park and was amazed how much physical geography there was in the area and how little human geography there was. 

If you go there, you'll have the place to yourself.

Reference

Johnson, Ross B. (1959). Geology of the Huerfano Park Area: Huerfano and Custer Counties, Colorado. (Contributions to general geology) (Geological Survey bulletin; 1071-D). Washington: United States Government Printing Office.