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01. (mile00,7946ft) START-END WEST: Fort Garland 02. (mile10,8273ft) dirt road turn off leading to railline is on right, stay straight 03. (mile17,9071ft) dirt road turn off to western approach Old La Veta Pass is on right, stay straight 04. (mile18,9108ft) dirt road turn off to dirt road Pass Creek Pass is on left, stay straight 05.(mile20,9413ft) TOP: NORTH LA VETA PASS 06. (mile22,8783ft) dirt road turn off to eastern approach of Old La Veta Pass is on right, stay straight 07.(mile30,7500ft) shorter alternate route for fat tires to La Veta is on right 08.(mile32,7225ft) another possibility to cut off a mile or two to La Veta is on right. 09.(mile36,6820ft) ALTERNATE START-END EAST : turn off toLa Veta is on right, go right 10.(mile41,7030ft) START-END EAST : town of La Veta

Approaches

From West. Fort Garland is the closest town, even if there are miles of gently rolling sage hills between the town and the slope up the pass. This side affords impressive views of the the Blanca massif. But in an area like this, the best vantage points on the mountains are often in the valley itself, where just a small increase in altitude can extend your field of view by 10s of miles. The second picture shows the Blanca Massif from a valley vantage point near Fort Garland.

From East. If a motorist is asked where La Veta Pass starts on the east, he will probably answer Walsenburg. Maybe that's because the character of the top of the pass is so unalpine, that the sage flats of Walsenburg don't seem much different. Even the "Colorado Pass Book", a publication aimed at 4 wheel drive enthusiasts, mentions Walsenburg in conjunction with La Veta Pass. The town of La Veta is several miles closer to the pass, and admittedly a few feet higher. But it makes a better destination, nestled between the Spanish peaks and the pass. If you have time to spare there's an old Fort to visit.

Tours

Dayrides. For a road cyclist there is only one option to ride over the pass in a day : Cross the pass and return from whence he came. The cyclist not limiting himself to impervious pavement has a wider choice of options. One direction can be ridden over Old La Veta Pass. It's a alternative to the sparse but fast traffic racing over the modern highway.

One Week (Very) Large Group Ride: (<Lizard Head Pass|Gore Pass>): Between 1986 and sofar (2005) the pass was twice on the Denver Post's "Ride the Rockies" itinerary. During 94 and 00 the stage was Walsenburg to Alamosa.

History

Just because North La Veta Pass lacks alpine character doesn't mean it is not beautiful. I personally love the sage expanses in front of these monumental dessert peaks. Weather it conforms to ideas of scenic beauty or not, its historical significance is unequivocal. The story how this huge gap in the southern Rockies was first utilized, and how it formed a boundary between the Spanish and American cultures make it arguably the most interesting story in the early history of the passes.

de Anza(<Ute Pass|Pass Creek Pass>): The pass enters the pages of history when it was crossed by the governor of New Mexico, de Anza, on a wild Comanche Chase. He used the  name "Sangre de Cristo Pass". Today the name could refer to any of the passes in this gap, this one, Old La Veta Pass or Pass Creek Pass. The de Anza story starts on the Poncho Pass Page. To see how he arrived here, check the Ute Pass page.

After de Anza had crushed the control of the Comanches he was on his way back home to New Mexico. It was on the leisurely ride home, that he made the pass discovery that would have the greatest impact on the future. It was not what he could have foreseen. This was not a gap towards the remote western remote Spanish empire in California, but faced the opposite direction. The pass faced east from the north of New Mexico. It was a gate to the plains and the upper Arkansas. De Anza named the pass "Sangre de Cristo Pass" because it was the obvious route through the mountains of the same name. The pass most closely associated with this name is "La Veta Pass", which today on the map is written as "North La Veta Pass". De Anza's approach was really between up "Pass Creek Pass", and down "North La Veta Pass".  That's why the story about de Anza continues on the Pass Creek Pass page.

The eastern approach to North La Veta Pass exists since the 1960s, when the highway department relocated the highway on a more direct route. The western approach has essentially remained unchanged since de Anza's Sangre de Cristo Pass. Other historical periods pertaining to the area are described on the Pass Creek Pass and Old La Veta Pass pages.