2013 Map of Allison

About this map

Allison and Arboles anchor this landscape along the border of La Plata and Archuleta counties, where the high desert meets the northern reaches of the Navajo Reservoir. The terrain is defined by the descent of the Piedra River and various arroyos toward the reservoir, managed by an intricate network of irrigation infrastructure including the Miller Ditch, Darlington Ditch, and the N Pine River Lateral. These waterways supported the local agricultural economy in a region otherwise dominated by sharp topographic rises like Haystack Mountain and the dual summits of Piedra Peak and Piedra Peak Number 2. Deep incisions such as Pine Tree Canyon and Black Horse Canyon carve through the northern sections, illustrating the transition from upland mesas to the water-rich basins below. This area reflects a mid-twentieth-century transformation from traditional ranching and farming to a landscape increasingly shaped by large-scale water reclamation and storage projects.