The Sangre De Cristo Mountains form the backdrop for the Maytag Mountain Ranch in the Wet Mountain Valley near the town of Westcliffe, Colorado. The Sangre De Cristo mountains were given their name by early Spanish explorers because of their reddish glow in the early morning hours. The Sangre De Cristo, or “blood of Christ”, mountains are a 75 mile long chain of mountains preserved as National Forest lands and as 226,455 acres of Federal Wilderness. The mountains average 15 miles in width with a vertical rise that is among Colorado’s greatest. The Sangres are home to eight 14,000+ foot peaks and 53 13,000+ foot peaks. Such an elevation gradient makes for numerous ecologies that may be experienced on the mountain trails that are available for ATV riding, hiking and biking. On the San Luis valley side there is sand and scrub. From the Wet Mountain Valley side of the mountains one is quickly surrounded by cottonwoods, gamble oaks, ponderosa and pinyon pines. As you climb to higher elevations, one is surrounded by forests of firs and spruces dotted with many aspen groves. At the highest elevations, the land is tundra meadows and barren rocky peaks. For overnight hikers, the Sangre De Cristo Wilderness provides many backcountry camp sites where permits are not required.

The most famous trail, the Rainbow Trail, is an 85 mile trail that runs near the base of the mountains. The trail runs from Medano Pass Road north to Salida and on to Poncho Pass. Elevations on the trail generally range from 8,000 feet to 10,000 feet. This trail is available for ATV’s, motorbikes, hikers and horseback riders. It crosses many stream watersheds and is generally considered an “easy” hike as its ascents and descents are fairly moderate. If hiking from the Ranch, one can access this trail directly from Ranch property. If driving from the Ranch, the closest access is the Duckett Creek trailhead. This trailhead is accessed by heading south on Highway 69 from the main Ranch gate and turning right onto the Billy Humble Road.