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Colorado State Highway 17 and New Mexico State Highway 17 Between Antonito, Colorado and Chama, New Mexico - Cumbres Pass, La Manga Pass and Rio Grande National Forest; The Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad
This is NOT the official site of the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad
Location
Antonito, Colorado is on US285, south of Alamosa, just north of the New Mexico line. From Antonito Co17 heads initially west and then southwest over the La Manga and Cumbres passes, changing into NM17 as it crosses into New Mexico. NM17 terminates at its junction with US64/US84 at Chama, New Mexico.
Description
Antonito and Chama are the two little towns at each end of the Cumbres and Toltec
Scenic Railroad, although Co17/NM17 only provides views of the railroad towards its western end near Chama. There is very little to see of the railroad at Antonito itself; a little more at Chama. There are occasional glimpses of the railroad line at a few places in between the two towns and you may be very lucky and see a train.
Co17/NM17 is an extremely scenic road, and deciding between this road or US160 over the Wolf Creek Pass as the route to take between Alamosa and Pagosa Springs will be a difficult choice.
Co17/NM17 passes through the Rio Grande National Forest and over the Manga Pass (10230 feet) and Cumbres Pass (10022 feet).
The Cumbres and Toltec railroad derives its name from the fact that it runs over the Cumbres Pass and through the Toltec Gorge.
External Links
Checked Aug-99.
Checked Nov-97.
Colorado
New Mexico
Historical Places
Mountain Roads
National Forests
Scenic and Tourist Railways
US64 Between Raton and Farmington
Scenic Roads
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As with all the other pages on this personal web site, all the information on this page is solely the opinion of the author, who has no connection whatsoever with any of the companies and organisations mentioned other than as an actual or potential customer.
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Most recently modified 29-Mar-02