La Garita sits quietly on the western edge of the San Luis Valley, along the southern edge of Saguache County. The name, La Garita, means sentinel or lookout, and comes from a nearby mountain with the same name, from which there is a spectacular optical panorama. La Garita has been gatekeeper to the San Luis Valley for centuries. There is evidence that Native Americans lived in and traveled through the area extensively.
On the cliff walls of beautiful and serene Carnero Canyon, a pictograph portrayal of a past native encampment is recorded in red ochre. While overlooking a major portal into the La Garita Wilderness and the San Juan Range, La Garita has offered many travelers both solace and sustenance.

In the early to mid 1800s, La Garita was a Spanish settlement along the wagon trail to Saguache, primarily occupied with raising sheep and subsistence farming. Almost every family had land and a water ditch and the population of La Garita grew to almost 1,000. However, in the late 1800s, the government decided that everyone had to file for water rights. This being a foreign idea to those who had been using the water equitably for centuries, many failed to take the required actions and lost their use of the water. This event had a devastating effect on the local livelyhood. Sometime after La Garita’s farming economy started downward, gold was discovered nearby. Many folks ventured into La Garita’s hills in search of gold, but few were as lucky as Mark Biedel at striking a mother lode. In 1881, his Crystal Hill Mine proved to be the most bountiful find in the region.

The solace that small Spanish communities offered attracted the Penitente Brotherhood to places like La Garita. They were being ostracized from the mainstream Catholicism due to their extreme practices of faith. Following the devastating influenza outbreak of 1918, the Brothers of Light, as they were often called, retreated into the hills. The Penitentes lived in the remote canyons, practicing their rituals and living by strict codes. Little remains of the Penitentes, today, except for their legend and a faded Madonna adorning one of Penitente Canyon’s walls.

Penitente Canyon is only a few minutes outside of La Garita and, in the modern day, it is a great destination for picnicking, hiking, biking, and world class rock climbing. Other local sights near La Garita are the Natural Arch and the Wagon Tracks, which were worn into the rock’s face by the
pioneers carrying timber down from the mountains. Currently, the most popular spot in town is the La Garita Store, where information and maps for local sights can be found, as well as a cup of coffee, some local chat, and the best hamburger in the valley. Everyone is welcome to visit and celebrate La Garita Days in July, featuring fellowship, dancing in the street, and great food.