Trinidad

Few towns in Colorado have undergone such dramatic transformations in recent years as Trinidad. Just north of the New Mexico border and Raton Pass, Trinidad was a stop on the Santa Fe Trail and home to trappers, traders and early ranchers in the 1800s.

To get a feeling for the town's history, seek out the Corazon de Trinidad National Historic District's Baca House and Bloom Mansion, both part of the Trinidad History Museum, where you'll see how the ordinary and extraordinary folks lived in the late 1800s.

For a look at Trinidad's pre-history, stop by the Louden-Henritze Archeology Museum, where you'll find artifacts from the nearby Trinchera Cave, home for thousands of years to prehistoric humans.

There's also a Western art gallery among the growing array of downtown shops and restaurants. An ongoing downtown renovation project has lured many new businesses to the city's heart.

Trinidad is also the starting point for the Scenic Highway of Legends, a historic drive over passes and through villages to Walsenburg to the north.

The Trinidad Lake State Park offers camping and other outdoor activities, as does the Comanche National Grassland to the east.