Palo Flechado Pass (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

: "tree pierced with arrows"),Palo Flechado Pass.
New Mexico Historic Markers. New Mexico Tourism Department. Retrieved August 13, 2014. also called Taos Pass and Old Taos Pass, is a mountain pass located in

Taos County, New Mexico Taos County is a county in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2010 census, the population was 32,937. Its county seat is Taos. The county was formed in 1852 as one of the original nine counties in New Mexico Territory. Taos County compris ...

Palo Flechado Pass.
Topozone. Retrieved August 13, 2014. on the

Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway The Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway is a New Mexico Scenic Byways, New Mexico Scenic Byway and National Forest Scenic Byway located in Northern New Mexico. It begins and ends in Taos, New Mexico. Route description The Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway ...

Geography

Palo Flechado Pass is in altitude. It is located 3.5 miles west of

Aqua Fria Creek Aqua is the Latin word for water. It is used in many words which relate to water, such as aquatic life. In English, it may also refer to: Arts * Aqua (color), a greenish-blue color Business * Aqua (skyscraper), an 82-story residential skysc ...

U.S. Route 64 U.S. Route 64 (US 64) is an east–west United States highway that runs for 2,326 miles (3,743 km) from Nags Head in eastern North Carolina to just southwest of the Four Corners in northeast Arizona. The western terminus is at U.S. Route 1 ...

in the

Carson National Forest Carson National Forest is a national forest in northern New Mexico, United States. It encompasses 6,070 square kilometers (1.5 million acres) and is administered by the United States Forest Service. The Forest Service's "mixed use" policy allows ...

. A tributary of Agua Fria Creek, Palo Flechado Creek, is near the pass.

History

Comanche The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...

Kiowa Kiowa () people are a Native American tribe and an indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th and 18th centuries,Pritzker 326 and eve ...

, and

Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...

used the mountain pass on a trail from the plains to and then alongside the Cimarron River (also called ''La Flecha'') before the arrival of the Spanish. It continued to be used by Native Americans, Spaniards, and Europeans on journeys to

Taos Taos or TAOS may refer to: Places * Taos, Missouri, a city in Cole County, Missouri, United States * Taos County, New Mexico, United States ** Taos, New Mexico, a city, the county seat of Taos County, New Mexico *** Taos art colony, an art colo ...

. According to the historic marker placed at the pass, a band of Apaches, the Flecha de Palo, lived in the plains east of the mountains in 1706. A common theory for the name of the pass is based upon a Taos Pueblo tradition for shooting arrows into a tree at a mountain pass following a successful buffalo hunt.

Recreation

There are two hiking trails within a mile of the pass that go into the Palo Flechado Meadow and alongside a stream. The Elliot Barker Trail leads to a pond and then a dense spruce-fir forest. The La Jara Trail at Forest Road 5 parallels a stream in the Rio Grande valley.

References

{{coord, 36, 24, 52.13, N, 105, 20, 11.04, W, display=title Landforms of Taos County, New Mexico Mountain passes of New Mexico Transportation in Taos County, New Mexico