Spanish Peaks Wilderness#History
{{Short description|Wilderness area in Colorado, United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox protected area
| name = Spanish Peaks Wilderness
| iucn_category = Ib
| photo = Spanish Peaks at sunrise.JPG
| photo_caption = The Wilderness encompasses the two Spanish Peaks.
| map = USA
| relief = 1
| map_caption =
| location = Huerfano / Las Animas counties, Colorado, United States
| nearest_city = Walsenburg
| coordinates = {{coord|37|22|57|N|104|58|43|W|region:US|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| coords_ref = {{cite gnis|2035310|Spanish Peaks Wilderness|August 12, 2012}}
| area = {{convert|19226|acre|km2}}
| established = January 1, 2000
| visitation_num =
| visitation_year =
| governing_body = U.S. Forest Service}}
The Spanish Peaks Wilderness is a {{convert|19226|acre|km2}} wilderness area in Huerfano County and Las Animas County, Colorado, United States, located {{convert|20|mi|km}} southwest of Walsenburg. All of the wilderness area is located within San Isabel National Forest, which is managed by the U.S. Forest Service.{{cite web |title=Spanish Peaks Wilderness |publisher=Wilderness.net |url=http://www.wilderness.net/index.cfm?fuse=NWPS&sec=wildView&WID=572 |access-date=August 12, 2012}}{{cite web |title=Spanish Peaks Wilderness |publisher=U.S. Forest Service |url=http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/r2/recreation/?cid=stelprdb5354202 |access-date=August 12, 2012}}
Geography
The Spanish Peaks ({{langx|es|Las Cumbres Españolas}}) are prominent landmarks along the eastern front of the southern Rockies. Their snow-capped summits of the East Spanish Peak and the West Spanish Peak, rise {{convert|7000|ft|m}} above the arid plains, made the "Double Mountain" an easily recognizable reference point to travelers of all cultures. The West Spanish Peak with an elevation of {{convert|13623|ft|m}}, overtops the East Spanish Peak which only has an elevation of {{convert|12708|ft|m}}. However, this difference is not readily discernible from a distance.
History
The Peaks have traditional and religious significance to American Indian tribes including the Apache, Comanche, and Ute. The common Indian name appears in at least three different spellings in various accounts, reflecting different renditions of oral expression. These are "Wahatoya", Huajatolla" or Guajatoyah". This is widely reported to be a Ute name meaning "breasts of the earth", but is in fact a Comanche name translating to "double mountain".{{cite news|last1=Christofferson|first1=Nancy|title=The Spanish Peaks: Legends|url=https://huerfanoworldjournal.com/the-spanish-peaks-legends/|access-date=August 19, 2020|work=Huerfano World Journal|date=June 25, 2015}}
Geology
The Spanish Peaks are geologically distinct from the faulted and uplifted mountains of the Sangre de Cristo range to the west. To the geologist the Spanish Peaks are prime examples of "stocks" which are defined as large masses of igneous (molten) rock which intruded layers of sedimentary rock and were later exposed by erosion. When mapped by geologists the Peaks were found to be masses of granite, granodiorite, and syenodiorite.
Among the most unusual features of the Spanish Peaks are the great dikes which radiate out from the mountains like spokes of a wheel. These walls of rock are often spectacular. They are easily visible from the highway north of the peaks (and west of Walsenburg), and pictures of them have been used as type examples in more than one introductory geology textbook. Several can be easily seen up close on back dirt roads, and one (Apishapa Arch) on the south side of the peaks can actually be driven through.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commonscat|Spanish Peaks}}
{{Protected Areas of Colorado}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Protected areas of Huerfano County, Colorado
Category:Protected areas of Las Animas County, Colorado
Category:Wilderness areas of Colorado