1952 Map of Kings Canyon

About this map

Medicine Bow Range dominates this 1952 topographic study at the border of Colorado and Wyoming, capturing a landscape defined by high-altitude mining and timber resources. The map traces the industrial footprint of the era, including the Kings Canyon Mine and the Village Belle Mine (Inactive), alongside several abandoned mine shafts that suggest the area's waning mineral activity. Transportation and water management are central to this mountain geography, with the Union Pacific line cutting through the canyon and irrigation systems like Hardwork Ditch and Allard Ditch channeling the runoff from Pinkham Creek. Small settlements and outposts such as Roach, Camp Nelson, and Bluebird Park provide evidence of early twentieth-century mountain habitation and forest management within the Medicine Bow National Forest and Routt National Forest.