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2011 Map of Mirage

Name: 2011 Topographic Map of Mirage
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 2011
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 2011

About this map

Mirage is a focal point of this Saguache County landscape, where the flat valley floor meets the rising slopes of the Sangre de Cristo foothills. The area is defined by a sophisticated and extensive network of water management, evidenced by named irrigation structures such as the Wales Shellabarger Ditch Number 1, Peterson Ditch Number One, and the Hoffman Niedhardt Ditch. These ditches draw from natural watercourses like Wild Cherry Creek and Rito Alto Creek, reflecting a centuries-old reliance on gravity-fed water systems to support the high-altitude agriculture of the San Luis Valley.

Industrial history is preserved in the northeast through the Triple T Mine and the Copper Head Claim, while local genealogy is rooted at the Mirage Cemetery. The transition from valley bottom to higher elevations is marked by the rugged Marshall Gulch, illustrating the geographic diversity of this region. Tracing the intersections of County Road AA and the various drainage systems reveals the organized parceling of land that continues to dictate the layout of this rural Colorado community.