Raton Pass

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Raton Pass
View from Raton Pass from I-25
Elevation	7834 ft.
Location	Colorado/New Mexico, United States
Range	Sangre de Cristo Mountains
Traversed by	Interstate 25 Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway

Raton Pass (7834 feet) is a mountain pass along the Colorado-New Mexico border in the United States.

It is located on the eastern side of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains between Trinidad, Colorado and Raton, New Mexico, approximately 100 miles (160 km) northeast of Santa Fe. The pass furnishes the most direct land route between the valley of Arkansas River to the north and the valley of the Cimarron River to the south.

1 History
2 Trivia
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] History

In the 19th century it was used as a route for a section of the Santa Fe Trail. Later in the late 1800s, it was used by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway as the railroad's primary route through the mountains. Along with the Royal Gorge in Colorado the pass was one of the focal points for the 1878-1879 Railroad Wars between the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe and the smaller Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. In the 20th century it became the route of Interstate 25 between Denver and Albuquerque. The pass is not particularly high but is sporadically subject to difficult driving in heavy winter snowfalls. Under most conditions it is easily negotiable by most motor vehicles.

A rear view of Santa Fe's El Capitan and its Budd-built observation car as it approaches the Raton Tunnel

[edit] Trivia

It was part of a Townes Van Zandt song "Snowin' on Raton". During one live performance Townes commented how he liked playing a show in Colorado because he didn't have to explain what Raton was.