Discover History

On June 3, 1905, Teddy Roosevelt signed a Presidential Proclamation creating almost two million acres of National Forest in southwestern Colorado. Learn more about the beginning of our National Forest.

At Chimney Rock you can imagine the landscape as it was a thousand years ago, with cultivated fields and settlements extending from the valley floors to the mesa tops. The area represents one of the largest Pueblo II (900-1150 AD) communities in southwestern Colorado and is considered a Chacoan cultural “outlier.” 

Peeled trees (also known as culturally modified trees) are usually ponderosa pine trees traditionally harvested by indigenous peoples for their soft phloem. What is phloem and why did they harvest it?

Did you know that many roads on the Dolores Ranger District of the San Juan National Forest were built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)? The CCC worked in the area building roads, bridges, and buildings. 

Remotely located in Dolores County, Glade was established in 1905 when a small log cabin was constructed as an administrative facility for the Glade District of the Montezuma National Forest (now part of the Dolores District of the San Juan National Forest). The Station remains remarkably unchanged, a virtual time capsule harkening back to the early days when the lone District Ranger was “guarding” the National Forest miles from civilization. 

The Aspen Guard Station was built between 1938 and 1941 by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and housed Forest Rangers until 1987. 

The Jersey Jim Fire Lookout Tower was home to U.S. Forest Service fire lookouts from the 1940s to 1970s. It was renovated and saved from demolition in 1991 by the Jersey Jim Foundation, a nonprofit local volunteer organization, which now operates and maintains the tower.