1964 Map of Rio Grande Pyramid

About this map

The Rio Grande Pyramid towers over this high-altitude landscape where the headwaters of the Rio Grande emerge within the Rio Grande National Forest. Surveyed in the mid-1960s, the terrain is defined by the Continental Divide, which snakes through the San Juan Mountains and separates the drainage basins of the Rio Grande and San Juan National Forest. A network of pack trails, including the Ute Creek Trail and East Ute Trail, provides the primary movement across these ridges, connecting remote water bodies like West Ute Lake, Middle Ute Lake, and the Flint Lakes. Named landforms such as Indian Ridge, Starvation Gulch, and The Window offer a look at the early nomenclature used by surveyors and travelers passing through the Hinsdale and San Juan county lines before modern development reached these peaks.