Ute Trails

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Ute Pass provided a corridor between the plains and the mountains. Along the Ute Trail in this region there is Tava Kaavi (Pikes Peak), Garden of the Gods, Pulpit Rock, Jimmy Camp, Palmer Park, Paint Mines, natural springs, animal corridors, and plants and minerals; all of which are important resources and places of spiritual importance.

Utes travelled over paths originally created by animals. Over time, rock cairns were built and paths were improved. We did not bend trees as trail markers. The knowledge of our vast trail system was passed down through oral stories and reinforced through personal experience as we moved through the landscape with our families and bands.

“Travel was never aimless or random; families and clans always had a specific purpose or destination in mind.”

Clifford Duncan (1933-2014), Ute Indian Tribe

Tribal Elder, Healer, Historian, Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation

Ute Trails existed throughout the traditional homelands, this map features only the main trails.

Major Trail Corridors in the Pikes Peak Region

Representatives from Southern Ute Tribe marking the original Ute Pass Trail in 1912
*Photograph by H.S. Poley, Courtesy of PPLD Special Collections*

Representatives from Southern Ute Tribe along with local officials marking the original Ute Pass Trail, 1912
*Photograph by H.S. Poley, CSPM Collection*

Families from the Southern Ute Tribe gathering at the Manitou Soda Springs during the Ute Pass Trail Dedication, 1912
*Photograph by H.S. Poley, CSPM Collection*

Representatives from the Southern Ute Tribe along with local officials marking the original Ute Pass Trail, 1912
*Photograph by H.S. Poley, CSPM Collection*

Marking the Ute Pass Trail, 1912

Many of our trails are now roads and highways including Highway 24 from Colorado Springs to South Park and Interstate 70 west through Glenwood Canyon.

“The trails that the elders talk about that went across the mountains…were for trade and visiting other Ute groups. Trails were their highways. Some of the trails are very old.”

Alden B. Naranjo Jr. (1941-2020), Southern Ute Indian Tribe

Former NAGPRA Coordinator, Southern Ute Indian Tribe

“The seasonal movements of bands were important to Ute subsistence and spirituality. The ceremonial calendar corresponded to the seasonal movements of groups, so certain events corresponded to the particular environment in which they would be held. For instance, summer ceremonies took place in high mountain settings, while fall events often took place in lower valley camps. Ute families often traveled long distances to partake in a variety of gatherings with other Ute people including military campaigns, social gatherings, and religious events such as the Bear Dance performed each spring.”

— Bonita Peaks Ethnographic and Ethnobotanical Study

Official Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute Statement: Addressing the False Cultural Connection of Bent Trees to Traditional Practices of the Ute Nation

This statement it the official position of The Southern Ute Indian Tribe and the Ute Mountain Ute Indian Tribe of the Ute Nation—regarding “Bent Trees” within the heartland of our aboriginal territory and ancestral hunting-grounds in the State of Colorado. While other Tribes may have conducted these types of practices, the practice of bending trees is not part of the customary cultural traditions of Ute people, past or present, who comprise the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute Indian Tribes.

Bent Trees have also been classified as “Spirit Trees”, “Ute Prayer Trees”, “Burial Trees”, “Trail Marker Trees”, “Ceremonial Trees”, and “Vortex Trees”, among other classifications. These trees have been falsely attributed to the Ute Nations’ general cultural practices. The aboriginal and ancestral territory of the Ute Nation includes the entire state of Colorado, the northern reaches of New Mexico, the northern reaches of Arizona, the entire state of Utah, the southern portion Wyoming that lies south of the Platt River, the western reaches of Kansas, and the western portion of the Oklahoma and Texas panhandle.

Some individuals, claiming to possess Ute cultural knowledge, have incorrectly asserted that Ute people purposefully bent trees for cultural purposes. According to tribal elders, tribal historians, spiritual leaders, and traditional practitioners from the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute Indian Tribes agree this is not a known Ute practice within our oral tradition; nor is it practiced today.