A Well Kept Secret

By Peggy Welch

    Set among the pinon covered hills and sandstone canyons, Navajo Lake in Colorado is a well kept secret.  One of the least publicized and subsequently little used State Parks in Colorado, there is a sense of serenity and peace over the valley.  Fed by the San Juan and Piedra rivers, the area offers a wide variety of diversions for outdoor enthusiasts.

    In the spring, when the snow melt begins, canoeists can put in at Pagosa Springs and ride the San Juan River to Navajo Lake.   It's an easy day-long paddle, passing by towering bluffs, out of the way canyons, soaring eagles and browsing deer and elk, making the trip an impressive one.

Stop at Pagosa Junction and see what remains of a once thriving community.  There's Gomez Merchandise, a general store that looks as it did when they closed the doors for the last time in the 1960's.   Across the street is the warehouse that was used to store wool and grain and when the occasion called for it, was used for fiesta and wedding dances.  The wooden water tower for the train still stands as do several outbuildings, a section of track , an open coal car and the railroad bridge.  The Gomez family still live and ranch in Pagosa Junction where several generations of their family before them have lived.

The San Juan and Piedra rivers and Navajo Lake give the fisherman an ample variety of fishing to choose from.  Bluegill, channel catfish, crappie, and largemouth bass lie in the shallows near the surface.  Trout, both rainbow and German brown, along with kokanne salmon and northern pike are found in the depths.

For the hiker with an interest in archeology, the area around Navajo Lake is noteworthy.  Ancient spearpoints and other artifacts indicate that man has lived in the land of the San Juan and Piedra rivers for thousands of years.  Clusters of surface and cave dwelling remains represent the earliest know villages in the Southwest.  From the basketmakers of 400 A.D. through the 14th century when the vanguards of the Ute and Navajo tribes moved in from the north, the area has been populated by a people whose only story is what is left behind.

Spanish and Mexican traders and explorers penetrated the region in the 1760's.  The famous Dominguez-Escalante Expedition rode through the Arboles area in 1776 in an attempt to find a route from Sante Fe, New Mexico to Monterey, California.

With 194 miles of shoreline and 15,000 surface acres of water in all, Navajo Lake has sailing, canoeing, windsurfing (with a separate beach set aside for windsurfing), houseboats, water-skiing, and full service marina.  The North End Marina has 29 ships, 45 buoys and a boat ramp, a quarter of a mile long and 80 feet wide.  The 3,150 foot airstrip offers easy access to the lake as well.

Navajo Lake's campground has 70 sites for tents, trailers, or campers.  A few electrical hook-ups are available as well as showers and flush toilets.  Picnic grounds, volleyball, badminton, and horseshoes appeal to all ages.  Several small restaurants near the lake offer good home style cooking, great Mexican food and small community friendliness.  The Allison-Arboles area has several grocery and convenience stores a motel, service stations, a post office, churches, medical care and other small businesses.

Located outside of Arboles, Colorado, 35 miles south of Pagosa Springs and 45 miles southeast of Durango, Colorado, history lives at Navajo Lake alongside the airplane and boat.  A place of quiet beauty often forgotten, but once visited, always remembered.