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While some tales and facts from southwestern Colorado and the Four Corners region are common knowledge (like Butch Cassidy robbing his first bank in Telluride; filming westerns How the West was Won and True Grit in Ridgway; and the Grand Mesa being the largest flat-top mountain in the world), tons of others remain largely unknown. For example, between 1830 and 1848, the 1,100-mile Old Spanish Trail, which winds through the Moab valley, was the major supply route between Santa Fe and Los Angeles. The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, originally constructed for hauling gold and silver from the San Juan Mountains, has run consistently since 1881 and appeared in over a dozen movies. While more than 4,000 structures have been identified in Mesa Verde, anthropologists and archeologists still can’t figure out why its thousands of inhabitants suddenly disappeared.

To say the least, this region was a happening spot in past years, and without a doubt, still is. Between progressive trends like organic farming and environmentally friendly living, and modern-day facts, colorful history is being made all the time. And with the current rage over outdoor adventure sports; this area could easily write the book. Folks have done crazy things in these outdoors long before the term "adventure sports," was ever defined.