Cucharas Pass

{{Short description|Mountain pass in Colorado, United States}}

{{About|the mountain pass|other places in Colorado|Cuchara (disambiguation){{!}}Cuchara}}

{{Infobox mountain pass

| name = Cucharas Pass

| photo = Cuchara Pass.JPG

| photo_caption = The pass in December, 2012.

| elevation_ft = 9995

| elevation_ref = {{cite gnis|id= 192975|name=Cucharas Pass|accessdate=2011-02-02}}

| traversed = {{Jct|state=CO|SH|12}}

| location = Las Animas / Huerfano counties, Colorado, United States

| range = Sangre de Cristo Mountains

| coordinates = {{coord|37|19|13|N|105|04|25|W|display=inline,title|type:pass}}

| topo = USGS Cucharas Pass

}}

Cucharas Pass is a {{convert|9995|ft|m|abbr=on}} elevation mountain pass in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in south central Colorado in the United States.

At the top, the pass is signed as Cuchara Pass and the elevation on the sign there reads 9995 ft. State Highway 12 traverses the pass. Highway 12 is also signed as the Highway of Legends Scenic Byway, one of Colorado's Scenic and Historic Byways.

The region gets its name from the spoon-like shape of the valley, with "cuchara" being the Spanish word for "spoon."{{cite web|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015051116740&view=1up&seq=17|title=Cuchara|work=Place Names in Colorado: Why 700 Communities Were So Named|last=Dawson|first=John Frank|page=16|date=1954|access-date=16 March 2020}}