Heading west from La Junta, back toward Trinidad, you'll pass another of the Santa Fe Trail's signature sites in Timpas, Colorado – the gateway to the Comanche National Grasslands, an unforgiving wilderness of hip-high grasses and wild grains, rising into small hills and diving into shallow canyons. This was prime buffalo-hunting ground and wagon trains could be easily ambushed here too. Which is why wagons would take staggered formations rather than follow one another in a single file. Still, after several thousand crossings, this clay soil got worn into ruts and at Iron Spring, just a mile down a well-graded dirt road off of Hwy 350, you can actually still see the wagon ruts, so deep was the impression they left in the clay. Walking along the ruts, with the dry wind in your hair, it's easy to imagine the challenges they faced. Iron Springs is a 1-mile drive down County Rd 9. It intersects Hwy 350 about 11 miles west of Timpas, Colorado, 27 miles from La Junta and 42 miles from Trinidad.
