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1973 Map of Kelso Point

Name: 1973 Topographic Map of Kelso Point
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1976
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1976

About this map

Uncompahgre National Forest dominates this section of the Western Slope, where the drainage of Escalante Creek and its many forks have carved a complex series of high tables and benches. The landscape is defined by its massive flat-topped features, including the expansive Kelso Mesa and the distinctively named North Love Mesa Bench and South Love Mesa Bench. These elevations are separated by deep draws and canyons, such as Tatum Draw, creating a vertical geography that dictated human movement through the region.

Evidence of high-country ranching and timber activity is visible in the presence of Picket Corral Ranch and the Sawmill Trail. The network of travel is primitive, relying on a series of specialized routes like the (Pack) Trail, Jeep Trail, and Cabin Trail to navigate between water sources like Love Lake and Iron Spring Mesa. This 1970s survey captures the area along the Mesa and Montrose County line before modern development, preserving a record of the remote trails and high mesas of the Colorado plateau.