South Fork, Colorado
| South Fork | |
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 South Fork |
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| Location in Colorado | |
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| Basic data | |
| State : | United States |
| State : | Colorado |
| County : | Rio Grande County |
| Coordinates : | 37 ° 40 ′ N , 106 ° 39 ′ W |
| Time zone : | Mountain ( UTC − 7 / −6 ) |
| Residents : | 386 (as of 2010) |
| Population density : | 63.3 inhabitants per km 2 |
| Area : | 6.1 km 2 (approx. 2 mi 2 ) of which 6.1 km 2 (approx. 2 mi 2 ) is land |
| Height : | 2502 m |
| Postal code : | 81154 |
| Area code : | +1 719 |
| FIPS : | 08-72395 |
| GNIS ID : | 0203420 |
South Fork is a small town in Rio Grande County in the southern US state of Colorado near the Mineral County border .
South Fork is over 2500 m (exactly 8180 feet) high in the San Louis Valley at the confluence of the South Fork Rio Grande in the Rio Grande and has 386 inhabitants (as of 2010). The area is relatively barren due to the altitude. The annual rainfall is 400 mm, mostly as snow in winter. The place has more than 300 sunny days a year. The city is served by US Highway 160 , and South Fork has been the terminus of the Union Pacific Railroad since 1999 . The nearest airport is 25 km east in Del Norte .
The village was founded in 1882 from an existing coaching inn during the construction of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad to Creede , Colorado, which for the local silver - mines was built. It was only registered as an independent town- type authority in April 1992, making it one of the youngest independent municipalities in Colorado. Originally the economy of the place was based on forestry and mining, today the community lives from tourism. The place is almost completely surrounded by the Rio Grande National Forest , a national forest under the administration of the US Forest Service . The upper reaches of the Rio Grande is a popular area for rafting , the forests have hiking trails and mountain bike trails. The State Highway 149 is west of South Fork as Silverthread Scenic Byway reported he follows an old stagecoach route and since 1999 disused railway through the mountains to the historic Wagon Wheel Gap , a water gap in the volcanic rock of the San Juan Mountains .
