The Rio Grande National Forest is partially located in Rio Grande County, and is host to the beginning of Rio Grande River as it makes its 1,885 mile journey to the Gulf of Mexico. Designated as a national forest by a Presidential Proclamation in 1908 by Theodore Roosevelt. The Rio Grande Forest covers more than 1.8 million acres of mountain peaks and valleys that are rich in minerals, timber, wildlife and scenic resources.
The casual meanderer can wander through alpine meadows skirted by vast stands of Engelmann spruce, aspen, and fir. The geologically curious can marvel at the strange, otherworldly moonscape in the Wheeler Geologic Area where medieval spires are eroded from volcanic tuff.
The forest is named for the mighty Rio Grande del Norte, or Great River of the North, as the early Spanish and Indian inhabitants of the Southwest called it. It is the third longest river in the U.S. and its headwaters are found here in the Rocky Mountains of south central Colorado before the slow-moving river carves its way for 2,000-miles along a shifting course to the Gulf of Mexico.
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