Getting Here

La Junta, Colorado – the Smile-Hi City – is located along the Arkansas River at what once was the junction of the Mountain Branch of the Santa Fe Trail and the Trappers Trail into the mountains and gold camps of Colorado, La Junta. 

Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site, Otero Museum, Koshare Museum and the Picketwire Center for the Performing Arts are all located in La Junta. Also near La Junta, Picketwire and Vogel Canyons in which Apatosaurus and Allosaurus left their tracks along the muddy edge of an ancient lake in what is now Picket Wire Canyonlands, south of La Junta. Making up one of the largest set of dinosaur tracks in North America, the 1,300 footprints in 100 separate track ways include groups of both adult and young Apatosaurus.

Additionally, La Junta and the Arkansas Valley are famous for fresh vegetables and melons. Arkansas Valley farmers work hard on their farms all season to grow a wide variety of produce including corn, cantaloupes, watermelon, chili peppers and much more.

The City boasts a Tony Hawk-designed skateboard facility, Sk8Way Park, featuring a more than 16,000 square foot concrete design; the Wipeout Municipal Pool with a water slide and a full-size pool, a nine-hole golf course, as well as beautiful parks throughout the City and numerous ball fields and courts for softball, baseball, soccer, basketball and tennis.

The City also hosts a number of light industries, rail yard, a quaint downtown business district and an airport in an industrial park north of town including La Junta Municipal Airport and La Junta Raceway.

From preschool through K-12 and even college, La Junta offers quality educational systems that encourage lifelong learning. Founded in 1941, Otero Junior College is located on an attractive 40-acre campus on the southern edge of La Junta and has a reputation as one of the finest community colleges in the State of Colorado.
Today La Junta is a progressive, friendly community located on US Highway 50 and serviced by Amtrak and the Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railroad. La Junta enjoys a moderate climate and more than 300 days of sunshine per year.

We invite you to Visit La Junta!