South Park (Park County, Colorado)
South Park (Park County, Colorado) | |
---|---|
Floor elevation | 10,000 feet (3,000 m) |
Area | 1,000 square miles (2,600 km2) |
Geography | |
Coordinates | 38°58′04″N 106°02′43″W / 38.9679°N 106.04517°W |
South Park is a grassland
Geology
The valley is mostly underlain by Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks concealed by a thin[quantify] layer of gravel laid down by glaciation during Pleistocene time. The underlying rocks are dipping slightly to the east. The eastern (and newer) side of the valley is underlain primarily by Pierre Shale laid down during Cretaceous time. The western (and older) side of the valley, on the west side of Red Hill, is underlain primarily by Permian and Pennsylvanian rocks. Red Hill runs through the center of the valley as a hogback ridge of tilted Cretaceous and Jurassic sedimentary rocks.
Gold
Gold mining in South Park began in 1859. Extensive placer deposits were mined along the west side of the park, and lode deposits were mined in the Mosquito Range. The extensive gravel ridges east of Fairplay are the result of dredging for gold. (see Gold mining in Colorado).
Petroleum
Although South Park contains some of the same geologic formations that yield oil and gas in the Denver Basin further east, efforts to find commercial oil and gas in South Park have so far proven unsuccessful.
Uranium
A minor amount of uranium has been mined from sandstone in South Park (see Uranium mining in Colorado).
Transportation
The valley is traversed by several highways, including U.S. Highway 285, which enters the valley from the eastern side over the Front Range at Kenosha Pass, providing a vehicle link to Denver. The highway crosses Red Hill at Red Hill Pass. On its northern side, the valley is connected by several high mountain passes to the valley of the North Fork of the South Platte River (a tributary of the South Platte). It is also connected by CO Route 9 via Hoosier Pass to the valley to the Blue River near Breckenridge. To the west, the extremely high Mosquito Pass crosses the Mosquito Range to Leadville. (Mosquito Pass is no longer a practical transportation route, but is now a historical and recreation site.) On its southwestern side, at the southern end of the Mosquito Range, it is connected by Trout Creek Pass to the upper valley of the Arkansas River near Buena Vista. U.S. Highway 24 enters South Park from the east at Wilkerson Pass, where the highway provides vehicle access to Colorado Springs. To the very south, CO Route 9 crosses Currant Creek Pass, which marks the southern edge of the South Park region.
History
Like much of the mountainous areas of Colorado, the valley was inhabited by
In popular culture
Since the late 1990s, South Park has been best-known as the eponymous setting of the animated series South Park. Trey Parker, one of the creators of the South Park series, grew up in Conifer, about 40 miles (65 km) east of Fairplay. According to Parker and co-creator Matt Stone, who is also a Colorado native, the area was well-known in Colorado for supernatural tall tales, UFO conspiracies and alien abduction stories that served as partial inspiration for the series.[3][4]
See also
References
- ^ "CO-T3/920426/T-3/"Center of CO Focus of Hist'al Trip" (cited by the [ GNIS listing for Fairplay]
- ^ "Cozine Memorial Group | Wichita KS funeral home and cremation Wichita KS funeral home and cremation".
- ^ "Trey Parker Biography (1969-)".
- ^ "Blockbuster Online - Person Detail Information Page". Archived from the original on 2008-12-05. Retrieved 2008-10-22.