Highway of Legends
Cuchara, CO

Cuchara Valley was first called Nunda Canyon after the Indian word for potato. During the homesteading era of the west, settlers took advantage of the available land. The climate and soil in the high meadows of southern Colorado was well suited for growing potatoes, a crop the Indians had planted in the area. Settlers would take their produce to Trinidad during the fall, and in the winter they would make cheese from goats’ milk to sell at market in the springtime. Soon, however, the soil was depleted in the area because farmers did not rotate their crops. The nutrients were exhausted and the crops became diseased.

In 1908 George Mayes and his wife moved to the valley for Mayes' health. Seeing the valley's beauty, Mayes was convinced the area would make a great summer resort. Because of its closeness to the Cuchara River, he named the resort Cuchara Camps. By 1910, several summer cabins had been built and Cuchara was a community, at least in the summer.

Cuchara is Spanish for "spoon." Stories differ on how the river and valley got their names, but some say the river was named after spoons early explorers had found along the river. The valley has a spoon shape to it, and people claim that when giants roamed the earth, the valley was formed when a giant laid down his spoon after a heavy rain. This impression in the side of the mountain has remained since.