Antonito, Colorado

Antonito, the county seat of Conejos County, is located on US 285 in the San Luis Valley of southern Colorado, 25 miles south of Alamosa. This is a beautiful area full of big views and agricultural endeavors. Antonito is also the eastern terminus of the Cumbres & Toltec Narrow Gauge Railroad. South of town, US 285 crosses into New Mexico, passes San Antonio Mountain and heads for Tres Piedras. West of town, Colorado 17 follows the Conejos River up into the San Juan Mountains/San Juan National Forest and crosses Mogote Pass and Cumbres Pass before crossing the New Mexico line and descending into Chama, the western terminus of the Cumbres & Toltec RR.

Antonito is another case where the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad built the station a few miles away from the old town and business moved to the station area. The Courthouse Square is the original plaza of Conejos, with the oldest church in Colorado on one side, across the street directly south of the Conejos County Courthouse. Around the plaza are a number of older buildings, probably from the earliest settlers. But Conejos is a couple miles northwest of the present-day town of Antonito and the countryside in between is obviously zoned “agricultural”.