Colfax County is a county in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2010 census, the population was 13,750. Its county seat is Raton. It is south from the Colorado state line. This county was named for Schuyler Colfax (1823–1885), seventeenth Vice President of the United States under U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant.
Cimarron is a village in Colfax County, New Mexico, United States, which sits on the eastern slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The population was 1,021 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth most populous municipality in Colfax County.
Eagle Nest is a village in Colfax County, New Mexico. The population was 290 at the time of the 2010 census. Located along the Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway, Eagle Nest is a small summer-home and resort destination. Originally named Therma, the village was renamed Eagle Nest in the 1930s. The town is located in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in northern New Mexico near the Colorado border.
Questa is a village in Taos County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 1,770 at the 2010 census. The village has trails into the Rio Grande Gorge, trout fishing, and mountain lakes with trails that access the Sangre de Cristo Mountains that overlook the area. Questa is on the Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway, near the confluence of the Rio Grande and the Red River. The "Gateway to the Rio Grande del Norte Monument", its visitors can drive to an overlook of the Red River meeting the Rio Grande in the depth of the gorge. The Carson National Forest parallels Questa to the east. The Columbine Hondo Wilderness and Latir Peak Wildness are in the Carson National Forest close to Questa.
Red River is a resort town in Taos County, New Mexico, located in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The population was 477 at the 2010 census. Red River is located along the Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway, and is 36 miles (58 km) from Taos.
Oro Grande is an unincorporated community in the Mojave Desert of San Bernardino County, California, United States. It lies on the city boundary of Victorville and Adelanto. It is at 3,000 feet (910 m) elevation in Victor Valley north of the San Bernardino mountain range. It is located on old Route 66 near Interstate 15 between Victorville and Barstow. The ZIP code is 92368 and the community is inside area codes 442 and 760. Less than 1,000 residents live in the unincorporated area.
Philmont Scout Ranch camps are a group of backpacking camps located in Philmont Scout Ranch, a large property in Colfax County near Cimarron, New Mexico, owned by the Boy Scouts of America and used as a backpacking reservation. Philmont operates from one large Base Camp which includes camping headquarters, the Philmont Training Center and Villa Philmonte, the Seton Museum, fire response facilities, cattle headquarters, and an administration area. As of 2022, there are 71 trail camps and 36 staffed camps. Philmont's camps are generally set no more than a couple of miles apart. Old camps are closed or relocated and new camps are opened every few years. Some camp sites are closed due to changing safety protocols. For example, camps were once located on top of Urraca Mesa and in the Baldy Saddle but these are unlikely to reopen because the locations are at risk for lightning strikes.
Dawson is a ghost town in Colfax County, New Mexico, United States. Dawson was the site of two separate coal mining disasters in 1913 and 1923. Dawson is located approximately 17 miles northeast of Cimarron. Dawson was a coal mining company town founded in 1901, when rancher John Barkley Dawson sold his coal-rich land in northern New Mexico to the Dawson Fuel Company. The Dawson Railway was built connecting the town to Tucumcari. The mines were productive, and by 1905 the town boasted a population of nearly 2,000, later reaching around 9,000.
Baldy Mountain, Baldy Peak, Mount Baldy, or Old Baldy is the highest peak in the Cimarron Range, a subrange of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of New Mexico. It is located in Colfax County, about 6 miles (10 km) northeast of Eagle Nest. It rises abruptly, with 3,640 feet (1,110 m) of vertical relief, from the Moreno Valley to the west and has a total elevation of 12,441 feet (3,792 m).
Rosita was a silver mining town — now a ghost town — in Custer County, Colorado, United States. Rosita is Spanish for little rose. Although the old town has almost entirely disappeared, the surrounding area has been largely developed into semi-rural home sites.
Ute Park is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Colfax County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 71. It was formerly part of the Maxwell Land Grant.
The Maxwell Land Grant, also known as the Beaubien-Miranda Land Grant, was a 1,714,765-acre (6,939.41 km2) Mexican land grant in Colfax County, New Mexico, and part of adjoining Las Animas County, Colorado. This 1841 land grant was one of the largest contiguous private landholdings in the history of the United States. The New Mexico towns of Cimarron, Colfax, Dawson, Elizabethtown, French, Lynn, Maxwell, Miami, Raton, Rayado, Springer, Ute Park and Vermejo Park came to be located within the grant, as well as numerous other towns that are now ghost towns.
Mount Phillips, formerly called Clear Creek Mountain was renamed in 1960 in honor of the then living Waite Phillips, who donated the area to the Boy Scouts of America. It is located in Colfax County about 11 miles (18 km) south of Baldy Mountain in the Cimarron Range, a subrange of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of New Mexico.
The Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway is a New Mexico Scenic Byway and National Forest Scenic Byway located in Northern New Mexico. It begins and ends in Taos, New Mexico.
Hedges, later renamed Tumco, is a locale, a ghost town, site of a former mining town, in Imperial County, California. It lies at an elevation of 617 feet / 188 meters along the Tumco Wash in the Cargo Muchacho Mountains. Nearby is the Hedges Cemetery at an elevation of 643 feet, at 32°53′04″N114°49′52″W.
The French Henry mine is a gold and silver mine located on Baldy Mountain. The mine was in operation intermittently from 1870 to 1938. Part of the Baldy Mining District, the mine has changed ownership many times and is now owned by the Boy Scouts of America as a part of Philmont Scout Ranch. The French Henry is no longer operational.
The Baldy Mining District is one of the largest primarily gold producing districts in New Mexico. Also sometimes known as the Elizabethtown Mining District, it encompasses Baldy Mountain. There is no longer any large scale mining. Most of the land is now owned by the Boy Scouts of America as a part of Philmont Scout Ranch. The Baldy Mining District is approximately 18,247 Acres.
Baldy Town, New Mexico is a former mining town in the Baldy Mining District in Colfax County, New Mexico. Baldy Town was established in 1868, to service mining prospects on the East side of Baldy Mountain, notably the Aztec Mine. The town grew to accommodate hundreds of residents with a store, saloon, boarding houses, church, small school, and post office. After Baldy Town's initial high profit boom from 1868-1870, Baldy Town suffered a series of booms and busts as investors and prospectors searched for profitable lodes. Multiple ambitious and extensive expeditions were made from 1870-1936 to discover additional gold veins, but only a select few found substantial lodes. By 1941, Baldy Town had been deserted and a majority of its infrastructure sold. In 1963, the eastern half of Baldy Mountain, including former Baldy Town, was donated to the Boy Scouts of America by Norton Clapp. Today, Baldy Town operates as a staffed camp at Philmont Scout Ranch providing a living history program regarding mining as well as logistical support like food resupply for hikers
