Travel and Explore Pueblo, CO!

Pueblo, CO Founded by Trader Jim Beckworth and a party of tradders, they constructed an adobe fortress in 1842. and named it Pueblo, meaning "town." Pueblo was the largest settlement in the region until a terrible thing happened in 1854, the Ute masscacre. The town's economy can be thanked by the coal found near Trinidad, which stated the Colorado Fuel and Iron Corporation, one of the largest steel plants in the West and the arrival of the railroad in 1872. Some sites to see are El Pueblo Museum, showing exhibits of the life in the area, Pueblo Zoo in Pueblo City Park, Rosemount, an 1893 Victorian mansion, the Sangre De Cristo Arts and Conference Center, Fort Garland, a restored adobe fort, Museum of Natural History containing American Indian artifacts, Rocky Ford, La Junta, the home of a Boy Scout troop named the "Koshare Indians," and the Koshare Indian Kiva containing Indian exhibits and a curio shop. Explore some of Pueblo's scenic areas such as Canon City, the three-mile Skyline Drive, the Phantom Canyon Highway, a 35-mile scenic drive to Cripple Creek, Lake Pueblo State Park occuping 17,000 acres of Pueblo Reservoir, and Royal Gorge, a 1,100-foot-deep canyon on the Arkansas River. Other interests in the area include the Colorado State Fair and the University of Southern Colorado which manages The Greenway and Nature Center of Pueblo that offers access to 32 miles of paved nature trails in the area.  Arkansas River Tours  West on US 50, 33 miles  Pueblo  Colorado  (719)942-4362 or (800)321-4352  The tours offered last from 2 hours to 2-day raft trips.  El Pueblo Museum  324 W. 1st St.  Pueblo  Colorado  (719) 583-0453  The museum has history of southern Colorado and offers exhibits about Indian, Mexican, and American life.  Pueblo Chamber of Commmerce  302 N. Santa Fe Ave.  Pueblo  Colorado  (719) 542-1704    Pueblo Zoo  Pueblo City Park, SR 45 (Pueblo Blvd.) at jct. Pueblo and Goodnight Blvds.  Pueblo  Colorado  (719)561-9664 or 561-1452  The zoo has a collection of animals from around the world and some being threatened and endangered.  Rock Canyon Water Slide  640 Pueblo Reservoir Blvd.  Pueblo  Colorado  (719) 561-2111  The park offers a waterslide, a beach, bumper boats, and paddleboats.  Rosemount  419 W. 14th St.  Pueblo  Colorado  (719) 545-5290  This late Victorian mansion houses original furnishings and displays showing the life of the 1800s.  Sangre De Cristo Arts and Conference Center  210 N. Santa Fe Ave.  Pueblo  Colorado  (719) 543-0130  The center has cultural and civic events and has four galleries of changing art displays.