Salida, Colorado

On our last day celebrating our special anniversary, we left the Mt. Primcton Hot Springs Resort to drive to the nearby town of Salida for dinner. Although the resort had a wonderful restaurant, we wanted to enjoy a drive along the scenic Collegiate Mountains located in the Sawatch Mountain Range.  The Sawatch Mountian range includes eight of the twenty highest peaks in the Rocky Mountains, including Mount Elbert, at 14,440 feet (4,401 m) elevation, the highest peak in the Rockies. Salida has the nickname "The Heart of the Rockies," as it is beautifully nestled between the Sangre de Cristo and Sawatch Mountain ranges,

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As you can see the drive along the Collegiate Peaks is beautiful! We passed many ranches and were entertained by the formation of clouds bringing precipitation to the distant peaks.

Salida was founded in 1880. Salida, meaning "exit" in Spanish, was named for its location near the point where the Arkansas River flows out of the valley and into Bighorn Sheep Canyon, upstream from the Royal Gorge. 

 One of the first things a visitor to  Salida is likely to notice upon arrival is the mountain with a huge “S” on it. This mountain is Tenderfoot Mountain, but it’s also referred to as S Mountain.  There is a road to the top and also trails. Prominently located at the end of F Street — the town’s main street – it is normally adorned with white lights in the shape of “S.” This alternates with a red heart symbolizing the “Heart of the Rockies." At Christmas, the mountain is zig-zagged with 4,500 brightly colored LED lights to form a 750-foot tall Christmas tree. It shines on Tenderfoot Mountain from the summit to the base over Salida throughout the holiday season, from late November into mid-January.

We parked our car and walked to the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area, which is 148 miles of river park well enjoyed by rafters, kayakers, and standup paddleboarders. The stretch of Arkansas River in and around Salida has up to 5000 trout per mile so it is also a fisherman's favorite!

The river was lined by beautiful autumn-hued Cottonwood trees.

We walked along the Salida River Trail.

We were amazed by the giant height of the Cottonwood Trees along the river trail and enjoyed sitting on a bench for a while watching the river flow by.

We then spent some time walking around the historic downtown.

Salida has Colorado's largest historic downtown district! Salida was first established in the 1800s as a stagecoach stop and later as a stop-over for travelers on the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. Downtown Salida is on the National Register of Historic Places. 

It has the finest collection of historically significant buildings in the state. Salidachamber.org has the map above with links to all the businesses and restaurants in the historic district.

Downtown Salida is a certified designated Creative District! The historic downtown is filled with artisans of every genre, including advertising and architecture, blacksmithing and metal, ceramics/pottery, digital media, fiber arts, videography, fine art, graphic design, murals, music, performing arts, photography, sculpture, and writing.

We enjoyed browsing through antique and bookstores, as well as the souvenir "Five and Dime" store. Along one of the side streets, we saw a very old and weathered piano on display!

There were also many art galleries to browse.

Halloween decorations were on display in many of the shop windows.

We decided to try a highly-rated Mexican restaurant called Casa Calaca. My husband had their triple sampler and I had their seafood mariscada. Both were delicious!

After dinner, we had another scenic drive back to our room at the resort, where we were able to enjoy the hot spring pools again. 

It was the perfect ending to a wonderful anniversary holiday!

Please join me again on my blog next week!

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