Discover Las Animas through its many different traces: a synagogue with an onion dome, minarets, and colorful stained-glass windows tells a story of distinctive architecture; other places preserve stories of mining and labor struggles.
Discover Architecture and History
Temple Aaron Synagogue was completed in 1889 and designed in the Moorish Revival style. Its onion dome, minarets, and colorful stained-glass windows define the building. Temple Aaron is also the last surviving example of a group of more than 70 buildings designed in the Exotic Revival style by regional architect Isaac Hamilton Rapp. Turkish and Moorish influences shape this architecture.
The El CorazĂłn de Trinidad Historic District, also called the Trinidad Downtown Historic District, contains more than 140 original buildings dating from the late 19th century. These include 55 examples of Victorian commercial architecture in the western United States. The Las Animas County Courthouse offers a different architectural impression: built in 1912, the three-story stone building is faced with sandstone and decorated with ornamental terracotta. In Trinidad, Holy Trinity Catholic Church was founded in 1866 by Reverend P. J. Munnecon and began as a small, single-nave prayer room.
The Trinidad History Museum explores the city's history through interactive exhibits—from the early settlers to the 1930s. Mines, original buildings, and coke ovens have been preserved in Cokedale, although production stopped in 1947. Architectural landmarks and the history of coal mining therefore stand side by side, while the preserved facilities should not be mistaken for an active operation.
The 40-acre Ludlow Tent Colony Site encompasses the grounds of the Ludlow tent colony and commemorates the event known as the Ludlow Massacre. At the Ludlow Massacre Memorial, interpretive panels and photos provide information about life in the mining towns, the events leading up to the conflict, and the movement's leaders. They also remember the miners who lost their lives in the fight for safer working conditions and the enforcement of labor laws. The Southern Colorado Coal Miners Memorial & Museum offers programs for children, seminars, and events throughout the year.
Lakes, Trails, and Landforms
Trinidad Lake has a surface area of 800 acres. Boating is permitted at Trinidad Lake State Park; the boat ramp and dock are seasonal. The ramp is on the north shore near Carpios Ridge Campground and can be reached via Highway 12. The Trinidad Lake Visitor Center is also on the north side of the reservoir, near Carpios Ridge Campground. The Park View Self-Guided Trail is a 0.6-mile loop. It is fully paved, at least five feet wide, and has no grades steeper than five percent. Check current visitor information before your visit, especially for details about seasonal facilities.
At Fishers Peak, different landscapes meet: grasslands in the east give way to foothills and mountains in the west. Fishers Peak also serves as an important wildlife corridor and reaches an elevation of 9,633 feet in Fishers Peak State Park. At the Fishers Peak Trailhead, there is parking for vehicles, public restrooms, scenic picnic areas, and informational signs. Access the park from I-25 via Exit 11, then head east to County Road 69-3 (Santa Fe Trail). Check current information about access and facilities before you set out.
Individual viewpoints and geological features add their own highlights. From Simpson’s Rest, you can take in the entire Purgatoire River Valley. Along Highway 160, you can see the Great Dikes of Spanish Peaks Country: vertical volcanic formations that radiate outward from the mountains. At Trinidad Lake State Park, you can see the Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary while driving through Las Animas County on the Highway of Legends National Scenic Byway. The KT Boundary there marks the end of the Mesozoic and the beginning of the Cenozoic.
Explore by Road and Trail
The 35-mile extension of the Highway of Legends follows Huerfano/Las Animas County Road No. 46 through the San Isabel National Forest. A 23-mile gravel cycling loop west of Cokedale and Sopris offers a different perspective on former mining towns. Sopris now lies beneath Trinidad Lake. Near Cokedale, the Twisted Cedars Disc Golf Course has 27 holes and is five miles off Highway 12.
Each experience offers a different focus: architecture and local history, the legacy of mining, or the landscapes around the water and mountains. Plan your time in Las Animas around the topics that interest you most.
Discover more destinations: Trinidad, Adams, Montezuma County, Kiowa, Alamosa County, Routt, Morgan County, Eagle.
Go to the main travel overview: Colorado.
