20 Attractions to Explore Near Brownie Hills

Culebra Creek is a stream in Costilla County, Colorado. It begins at the junction of El Valle and Carneros creeks and flows into the Rio Grande 11 miles east of Manassa, Colorado.The creek is the source of the San Luis People's Ditch, an acequia, which was given the highest priority water rights in the state. The entire Culebra Creek Watershed supports fourteen acequias.

The Lobato Bridge is the southernmost bridge over the Rio Grande River in Colorado. It sits on County Road G between Antonito and Jaroso, Colorado and was originally constructed in 1892 by Joseph F. Thomas. Also known as the Old State Bridge, it has been listed on the National Registry of Historic Structures since 1985. The bridge stretches 313.9 feet long with a deck width of 15.7 feet.

Smith Reservoir is located in Costilla County, Colorado, south of Blanca in the San Luis Valley.The lake and the land immediately surrounding it are also designated as the Smith Reservoir State Wildlife Area. It offers trout fishing, waterfowl hunting, and camping.

This is a statutory town that is the county seat and the most populous town of Costilla County, Colorado. The district contains an important collection of buildings that includes the county courthouse, the convent and Church of Most Precious Blood, numerous residences, and the town’s commercial core. The district also includes the Vega, a common ground for animal grazing, and the San Luis People’s Ditch. Listed under Culebra River Villages of Costilla County Multiple Property Submission.

The Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge covers 11,169 acres of high desert uplands and riparian wetlands in the San Luis Valley.The site consists of wet meadows, river oxbows and riparian corridor primarily within the flood plain of the Rio Grande, and dry uplands vegetated with greasewood and saltbush.It is considered to be more wild and less intensely managed than the nearby Monte Vista refuge.

Sanchez Reservoir lies in far southcentral Colorado, west of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in Costilla County. Its inflows include Ventero Creek and the Sanchez Canal, a diversion canal that takes water from Culebra Creek and two other creeks. Colorado Parks and Wildlife manages fishing at the reservoir, which forms the Sanchez Reservoir State Wildlife Area.

The Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge covers 11,169 acres of high desert uplands and riparian wetlands in the San Luis Valley.The site consists of wet meadows, river oxbows and riparian corridor primarily within the flood plain of the Rio Grande, and dry uplands vegetated with greasewood and saltbush. These areas support a small but rich biodiversity including songbirds, water birds, raptors, red fox, mule deer, black bear, beaver and coyotes.

Cano's Castle, a popular folk art attraction made of beer cans and scrap metal in the small town of Antonito near the southern Colorado border, was heavily damaged by a fire Thursday morning, authorities said. Cano’s castle is actually four separate structures. “The king”, “the queen”, “the palace” and “the rook”. The four story “king” house, covered in gleaming beer cans and hubcaps, is his crowning architectural achievement.

The Rio Grande Scenic Railroad is Colorado's newest train offering steam engine rides through breathtaking mountain valleys and over legendary LaVeta pass on hundreds of miles of historic rail. This 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in standard gauge route, featuring a climb over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains via Veta Pass, dates back to 1899 and is a successor to the original 3 ft narrow gauge La Veta Pass line of the Denver and Rio Grande Railway, completed in 1878.

The Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad, often abbreviated as the C&TSRR, is a 3 ft narrow-gauge heritage railroad that operates on 64 miles of track between Antonito, Colorado. The railroad is named for two geographical features along the route: the 10,015-foot -high Cumbres Pass and the Toltec Gorge. The railroad has a total of ten narrow-gauge steam locomotives and two narrow-gauge diesel locomotives on its current roster.

This is a 4-6-0 "Ten Wheeler" type narrow gauge steam railway locomotive. It is one of twelve similar locomotives built for the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1883. It was built as a passenger locomotive, with 46 in drivers, the second largest drivers used on any three foot gauge D&RGW locomotive. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Denver and Rio Grande Railroad Locomotive No.169 in 2001.

This is the largest park in Alamosa. It is 14.5 acres and includes a baseball/softball field with announcer booth, three picnic shelters, a playground, skatepark, restrooms, bike pump track and dirt jumps, two walking loops and four horseshoe pits. .

A beautiful nature park, which features two covered picnic areas, trails, and several types of wildlife from deer to waterfowl, fox, and many bird species.

The Colorado Historical Society restored the fort and opened the Fort Garland Museum in 1950. Restored and reconstructed buildings include the adobe Commandant's Quarters, where Kit Carson and his wife once lived the cavalry barracks with exhibits of Hispanic traditional arts and 19th century transportation artifacts, and officer's quarters. Permanent exhibits focus on Kit Carson and Buffalo Soldiers. The museum is administered by History Colorado.

Mountain Home Reservoir is located in Costilla County, Colorado. The dam was built in 1912-1913. The reservoir is the site of the Mountain Home Reservoir State Wildlife Area, managed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife. This lake is 130 acres in size. When fishing, anglers can expect to catch a variety of fish including Rainbow Trout.

Lake Como is a high mountain lake located in Alamosa County, in the U.S. state of Colorado. the road to the lake is said to be the toughest 4WD road in the country. It is one of the iconic attraction in this area and there is so many hikeing trails and also so many other leisure activities possible.

Little Bear Peak is a high mountain summit in the Sangre de Cristo Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The 14,043-foot fourteener is located on the Sierra Blanca Massif, 8.8 miles north by east of the Town of Blanca, Colorado.Little Bear is composed of pre-Cambrian granite estimated to be approximately 1.8 billion years old. Along with nearby Blanca Peak and Ellingwood Point Little Bear rises nearly 7,000 feet above the San Luis Valley to the west and south.

Blanca Peak is the fifth highest summit of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The mountain is considered to be the eastern boundary of the Dinetah, the traditional Navajo homeland. It is associated with the color white, and is said to be covered in daylight and dawn and fastened to the ground with lightning. The summit is the highest point of both counties and the entire drainage basin of the Rio Grande

A majestic high mountain summit in the Sangre de Cristo Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. Named after the famous Colorado mountain climber, Albert Ellingwoood, Ellingwood Point is part of the Blanca massif. It is named and above 14,000 ft and is often climbed with it's more popular neighbor, Blanca Peak. Ellingwood Point is 0.5 miles northwest of Blanca and crowns the amazing northeast face above the Huerfano Valley.

Zapata Falls is a waterfall located near the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains on Bureau of Land Management land adjacent to Rio Grande National Forest. The falls has a drop of 30-foot . Access to this waterfall entails a mildly steep 0.5 mi (0.80 km) hike. Viewing the falls requires fording the stream and climbing rocks. A short but adventurous hike over slippery rocks leads to a magnificent 25-foot waterfall at Zapata Falls Recreation Area.