Mosca Pass, elevation , is a mountain pass in

Alamosa Alamosa is a home rule municipality and the county seat of Alamosa County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 9,806 at the 2020 United States Census. The city is the commercial center of the San Luis Valley in south-central Colora ...

and Huerfano counties in the

Sangre de Cristo Range , country= United States , subdivision1= Colorado , subdivision2_type= Counties , subdivision2= , parent= Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Rocky Mountains , borders_on= , geology= , age= , orogeny= Fault-block mountains , area_mi2= ...

in southern Colorado. The pass lies on the eastern border of the

Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve is an American national park that conserves an area of large sand dunes up to tall on the eastern edge of the San Luis Valley, and an adjacent national preserve in the Sangre de Cristo Range, in sou ...

about 40 miles west of

Walsenburg, Colorado The City of Walsenburg is the Statutory City that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Huerfano County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 3,049 at the 2020 census, down from 3,068 in 2010. History Walsenbur ...

. It marks the boundary between the Great Sand Dunes National Preserve to the west and

San Isabel National Forest San Isabel National Forest is located in central Colorado. The forest contains 19 of the state's 53 fourteeners, peaks over high, including Mount Elbert, the highest point in Colorado. It is one of eleven national forests in the state of Color ...

to the east, and it also lies on the border between Alamosa and Huerfano counties. Mosca Pass Trail, which starts near the Great Sand Dunes National Park visitor center and is impassable to vehicles, lies on the west side of the pass, and Forest Road 580 begins and heads east from the top of the pass, becoming County Road 580 after passing the national forest boundary. The terrain is a mix of montane meadows,

ponderosa pine ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is the ...

woodlands Woodlands may back refer to: * Woodland, a low-density forest Geography Australia * Woodlands, New South Wales * Woodlands, Ashgrove, Queensland, a heritage-listed house associated with John Henry Pepper * Woodlands, Marburg, Queensland, a her ...

, and

Douglas-fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Oregon pine, and Columbian pine. There are three va ...

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

. The pass was previously traversed by the former

Colorado State Highway 150 State Highway 150 (SH 150) is a long state highway in southern Colorado. SH 150's southern terminus is at U.S. Route 160 (US 160) west of Blanca, and the northern terminus is at Great Sand Dunes National Park. Route description ...

. Mosca Pass was named for

Luis de Moscoso Alvarado Luis de Moscoso Alvarado (1505–1551) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador. Luis de Moscoso Alvarado assumed command of Hernando De Soto's expedition upon the latter's death. Early life Luis de Moscoso Alvarado was born in Badajoz, Spain, t ...

, whose scouting parties may have reached this area about 1542.

References

Landforms of Alamosa County, Colorado Landforms of Huerfano County, Colorado Mountain passes of Colorado {{Colorado-geo-stub