Stop 7

Auto Tour: Stop 7

This stop is important as it shows the terrain, they have already traveled and what the terrain looks like ahead of them. This stop is a favorite for its beauty and how it illustrates the challenges they have already faced and what lays ahead.

While this is an important site historically for the Domínguez Escalante Expedition, it also shares historical relevance for the founding of Nucla as this was the site of the famous Cottonwood settlement that served as a temporary home for the settlers while they were building the ditch to bring life to what would soon become Nucla, Colorado.

Just across and above the river can be seen a very straight line. That straight line is 17 miles long and is the Colorado Cooperative Company’s Ditch which was hand dug. The company was created in 1894 and the ditch construction was started in 1896.

If you look carefully below you, there is what is left of an old cabin. It is thought that it might have been part of the small gold rush that happened here. Gold is still panned here.

At Stop 8 you will see what remains of the town of Piñon. This is all that remains of the town where people lived while building the CC Ditch. At one time it was the second largest town in Montrose County. We strongly recommend a visit to the Rimrocker Museum in Nucla, Colorado to learn more about each of these historical places.

Total mileage (TM) – 16.3
Distance between Stops (DBS) – 1.8