Welcome to the Starlite Motel!

Carrizo Canyon: The east fork of Carrizo Creek flows through this small canyon graced by juniper and cottonwood trees. American Indian petroglyphs can be found along the canyon walls. A variety of wildlife, especially birds, can be seen in the early morning or before sunset.

Carrizo Picnic Area: The hiking trail along Carrizo Creek gives access to one of the few permanent water sources on the Carrizo unit of the Comanche. Many different bird species come and go throughout the year. Bird highlights include the Black-chinned Hummingbird, Ladder-Backed and Lewis’s Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, Cassin’s Kingbird, Greater Roadrunner, Ash-throated Flycatchers, Mississippi Kite, Western Screech Owl and Canyon and Bewick’s Wren. Beneath the water surface are snapping turtles, softshell turtles, bullfrogs and channel catfish. Along the trails near the rock walls, you may find bullsnakes, collared lizard and the Texas horned lizard.

Camping: No camping is allowed in the Carrizo Canyon Picnic Area.

Comanche National Grassland encompasses more than 440,000 rural acres in the southeastern plains. Highlights include dinosaur footprints, ancient rock art, abandoned homesteads, and the Sante Fe Trail.

Over 1300 visible tracks in the picturesque Picketwire Canyon make it one of the largest documented dinosaur trackways in North America. The natural beauty of Comanche is another draw, with short grass, rugged canyons, and rolling bluffs. Southeast Colorado brings isolation, so if you’re looking to avoid the crowds, this is a good place for it.

This mountain summit has a very unusual, isolated look to it, and is visible for miles around it. It's a very easy hike across the rangeland of Two Buttes, and a very steep walk down to the rocks summit. (black hole). The black hole is below the dam, and was very popular for a swimming hole and cliff diving area. No swimming in Black hole

Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site preserves the resources associated with the Bent–St. Vrain trading empire, which radiated from Bent's Old Fort into what is now Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, Nebraska, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, and Missouri. The fort solidified one of the most important and last established trading cartels in the Rocky Mountain West.

William and Charles Bent, along with Ceran St. Vrain, built the original adobe fort on this site in 1833 to trade with Plains Indians and trappers. The fort quickly became the center of the expanding holdings of Bent, St. Vrain & Company, including Fort St. Vrain to the north and Fort Adobe to the south, along with company stores in Taos and Santa Fe. The primary trade was with the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians for buffalo robes.

For much of its 16-year history, the fort was the only major permanent white settlement on the Santa Fe Trail between Missouri and the Mexican settlements. The fort provided explorers, adventurers, and the U.S. Army a place to get needed supplies, wagon repairs, livestock, good food, water and company, rest and protection in this vast "Great American Desert." During the war with Mexico in 1846, the fort became a staging area for Colonel Stephen Watts Kearny's "Army of the West." Disasters and disease caused the fort's abandonment in 1849.

Bent's Old Fort was an important point of commercial, social, military, and cultural contact between Anglo-American, Native American, Hispanic, and other groups on the border of United States Territory. The fort served as a point of exchange for trappers from the southern Rocky Mountains, travelers from Missouri and the east, Hispanic traders from Mexico, and Native Americans, primarily from the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Comanche, and Kiowa Tribes.

Today, Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site features a reconstructed version of the 1840s adobe trading post. Archeological excavations and original sketches, paintings, and diaries were used to replicate the features of the fort, which was reconstructed during the country’s bicentennial and Colorado’s centennial in 1976. The reconstructed fort and its historic setting allow visitors to “step back” in time to learn about and reflect on the westward expansion of the United States.

The largest town and county seat of Baca County has some trees worth checking for migrants in season. Mississippi Kite, Great-tailed Grackle and Chihuahuan Raven have been observed here. Check especially the trees in the city park (two blocks west of Main between 4th and 5th) and around the Baca County Courthouse (on the west side of Main between 7th and 8th). You may see Turkey Vultures around the water tower, and the grain silos attract dove and pigeons.  The water treatment plant, just outside of town, may be worth a visit, especially in winter. The only hotels in all of Baca County are here.

Seasonal Bear Creek winds about a mile through this working horse ranch, with cottonwoods, shrubs and grassland habitats providing outstanding birding, especially during migration. Two ephemeral ponds attract a variety of waterfowl and water birds after rains. Conveniently located just west of US Hwy 297/385 the ranch is home to Blue Rose Ranch Horse Rescue and Adoption. An optional high-end B&B with meals and hot tub, horse training, horseback riding, and tours of the Horse Rescue and horse interaction are available.

A WWII Japanese Internment Camp, the site is now 1 square mile of foundations and signs.

https://www.wildanimalrefuge.org/the-refuge

With The Wild Animal Sanctuary continuing to operate on 789 acres near Keenesburg, CO, this new 9,743-acre Refuge will allow the Sanctuary to continue saving Captive Wildlife far into the future.   Located in southern Colorado and sprawling across two counties (Baca and Las Animas) the Refuge offers endless beauty with incredible natural amenities for rescued animals to enjoy.

With the Sanctuary's Keenesburg site already hosting over 500 rescued Lions, Tigers, Bears, Wolves and other large carnivores, there was a critical need for additional land.  With thousands of animals remaining in illegal or abusive situations throughout the United States and around the world - it was imperative for the Sanctuary acquire more land.

The Refuge is one large contiguous block of land with no county roads bisecting the land, and no commercial or residential development for more than thirty miles.

Rescued animals can now live enriched lives roaming freely within large hundred acre habitats that are flush with completely natural amenities.

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