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1967 Map of El Valle Creek

Name: 1967 Topographic Map of El Valle Creek
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1971
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1971

About this map

The Sangre De Cristo Mountains dominate this 1967 survey, defining the high-altitude boundary between Costilla and Las Animas counties. The landscape is characterized by a dense network of alpine drainage systems, where the North Fork Purgatoire River emerges in the northeast corner within the San Isabel National Forest. This era of land management is marked by the presence of the Whiskey Pass Road and various jeep trails that navigate the steep ascent toward Whiskey Pass.

High-country water sources are abundant, including Lost Lake, Strawberry Lake, and Carneros Lake tucked into glacial cirques. Evidence of early resource exploration appears at a remote Prospect site near the headwaters of the Purgatoire. The map details numerous named drainages such as El Valle Creek and El Poso Creek, reflecting the Spanish naming traditions that persist across this part of the Culebra Range.