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Historic Sites on the Ports to Plains Highway
This itinerary is designed to alert travelers on US 287 to the historic sites and wildlife areas that can be enjoyed along this route.
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Destinations include:
Kiowa County Museum
Sand Creek Massacre Site
Big Timbers Museum
Wind Farm
Two Buttes Reservoir
WPA sites near Springfield
Comanche National Grassland
Picture Canyon and Carrizo Canyon
Day One: Eads, Lamar
In Eads, visit the Kiowa County Museum and stop for refreshment at Cinnamon Joe's before driving 21 miles east to the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site for a tour conducted by the National Park Service. Drive south on 287, visiting the Big Timbers Museum (at the north end of Lamar), which houses an excellent collection of WW I posters. Overnight in Lamar, visiting Lamar Tower in the city park, the first WPA building project in the area.
Day Two: Lamar, Springfield
Drive south from Lamar to an overlook which offers an impressive view of one of Colorado's first wind farms. From this vantage point, you can photograph contemporary wind propellers standing side by side with dwarfed historic windmills. Take a short side trip to Two Buttes Reservoir, an excellent location for bird watchers, before heading for Springfield, which was in the epicenter of the Dust Bowl in the 1930's. Here, pick up a driving tour of WPA sites from local merchants and explore the extensive building constructed with local stone. Take time for a side trip on Road M to hike in Carrizo Creek Canyon or Picture Canyon, enjoying this introduction to the canyons that drop down into the plains in this part of Colorado.
