Picket Wire Canyonlands Guided Auto Tour

October 16, 2021 my friend James and I drove East into the rising Sun to La Junta, Colorado to join in one of the auto tours presented by the U.S. Forest Service. The full day tour is the title of this post and you can learn more about it by clicking here.

The canyonlands are located on the Comanche National Grassland some distance South of La Junta on Highway 109. Participating in the tour requires a high clearance four wheel drive vehicle – and they aren’t kidding about that. We drove in on a very clear dry day and it was kind of exciting. You should not only be prepared with the right vehicle – there is also a mile or so of hiking involved which includes wading across the Purgatoire River.

I have to say that, even with the technical requirements and the walking, the trip was well worth the effort. Posted below is a photo gallery of what I saw that day and it should give you a pretty good flavor of what can be seen if you decide to go on this adventure.