Because of its location along the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, Trinidad offers proximity to the very best of four seasons Colorado recreation, both on the plains to the East and in the mountain areas to the West.

Within the community, residents can find a multitude of recreational opportunities. Trinidad has a heated municipal swimming pool open in the summer, a 16,000 square foot community center including a regulation-size gymnasium; eleven tennis courts; one of the most scenic nine-hole golf municipal courses in Colorado; four baseball/softball fields and five city parks, totaling just over 67 acres.

Trinidad also has three active health clubs and opportunity for other adult activities at Trinidad State Junior College. Within the community, organized activities such as summer softball leagues and winter bowling leagues are very popular. Active golf associations are also available for men and women.

For those interested in less recreational activities, Trinidad offers two indoor movie theaters, one of which is located in one of the few remaining double balcony vaudeville theaters left in the southwest United States. A Band Shell which is the central location for our Concerts in the Park, Summer Series.

Several outstanding museums are found in Trinidad. The A.R. Mitchell Museum & Gallery which preserves the art of Arthur Roy Mitchell, a Trinidad native and his fellow Western artists through permanent displays and numerous special activities. The Baca House-Bloom Mansion and Santa Fe Trail Museum is a state museum, which preserves outstanding examples of adobe and Victorian architecture, as well as, the extensive Pioneer Museum, housed in the outbuildings. The Children’s Museum is located in the Old Firehouse #1 and features displays designed for children to touch and hold. The Aultmann Museum, displaying the photographic artistry of two generations of Aultmann photographers over the past 100 years. The Trinidad State Junior College Archaeological Museum, in Freudenthal Memorial Library, features fine archaeological displays from the immediate vicinity.

Each year, community concerts and community theater series are held in conjunction with the Trinidad State Junior College. Outdoor recreation in the area has been enhanced greatly by the Trinidad State Recreation Area, a 2,400-acre tract of land, which contains ‘a 1,200-acre reservoir on the Purgatoire River. The reservoir, under peak water conditions, hosts water skiing, fishing and windsurfing in addition to sailing and power boating. The State Recreation Area includes a 62-unit campground with full-service hookups and showers, hiking trails, boat ramp and duck, facilities and is a Visitor’s Center.

Hundreds of thousands of acres of unspoiled mountain terrain to the west of Trinidad beckon adventure at every turn. In the high foothills are guest ranches, which feature horseback riding, fishing, hiking and camping. Miles of trails through the San Isabel National Forest, adjacent private land, have gained fame as routes for backpacking, day hiking and four-wheel drive trips. High lakes such as Blue Lake, Bear Lake, North Lake and Monument Lake, offer excellent fishing for trout. Fine fly-fishing stream water is found on the North Fork of the Purgatoire River or along the Cucharas River.

Colorado Highway 12, connecting Trinidad with La Veta and Walsenburg to the North and East, has been renamed the Scenic Highway of Legends. The Scenic Highway of Legends carries both a State scenic byway designations as well as an U.S. Forest scenic byway accreditation. Historic coal towns, volcanic dikes, rivers, lakes, vast fields of wildflowers in the spring, colorful aspen and pine forests bursting with color in the fall and the breath-taking great stonewall formation all welcome the traveler to another time when life called for a much more relaxed pace. No matter what the recreational desire — the Trinidad Area offers many fun-filled options.