Loading map...

2019 Map of Big Hole Canyon

Name: 2019 Topographic Map of Big Hole Canyon
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 2019
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 2019

About this map

Comanche National Grassland dominates this portion of Baca County, where the high plains are carved by a complex network of ephemeral drainages. The landscape is defined by its water sources, with vital points like Regnar Spring, Major Spring, and Hatfield Spring providing rare relief in an arid environment. The terrain is marked by significant geographic features including Little Black Mesa and deep cuts like Big Hole Canyon and Furnish Canyon.

A network of rural routes, including Co RD G and Co RD 8, provides the only access through these protected federal lands. The spatial distribution of named water features like Woods Water and Trujillo Spring suggests a history of livestock grazing and early settlement patterns where survival depended entirely on these specific, reliable locations within the canyon systems of Whitby Canyon and Pat Canyon.