Dudley's favorite stump

The park terrain except for the hogback is flat averaging 6425 feet of elevation. The hogback on the park north boundary gains 40 feet of elevation in the west and increased to 140 of elevation in the east. Much of the park ground cover is prairie and juniper prickly with scattered candelabra cholla. The park woodlands are primarily juniper and piñon. Exotic woodlands are cottonwood and Russian olive. The area west of Horseshoe Lake is partially marsh land with cattails and bulrush.

Welcome to Lathrop State Park. We want you to have a good time walking our trails and hiking our terrain through grass, trees, cactus and rocks that may require using your hands seeking your geocache. Specific geocaches inform you of terrain that is more that a casual walk. Each individual geocache description lists a parking lot where you can start your walk, and that gives you time to see what this park is about as you seek your goal. Do not forget to enjoy the view of the mountains on the horizon.

We recommend that you DO NOT use the geocache description Driving Directions printed below the latitude and longitude coordinates. Using the Driving Directions has you parking and walking on private land outside the Lathrop State Park boundary fence. You may be issued a citation and/or have your vehicle towed. There is one fence within Lathrop SP that separates Martin Lake and Horseshoe Lake. Please use your park map that you were issued when you entered the park to see the location of the interior park boundary fence.

Lathrop State Park, while sitting in the shadows of the Spanish Peaks, has the honor of being Colorado’s 1st State Park and covers 1594 acres. One of the main features of the park is its two lakes; Martin Lake covers about 180 surface-acres while Horseshoe Lake has about 150 surface-acres. Both host a wide range of water activities.

Entrance to Lathrop State Park in Walsenburg, CO requires a park pass that can be purchased at the visitor center for display on your vehicle windshield. There is also a self-serving station near the park entrance.

Two types of passes are available: A daily Pass is valid from the day purchased until noon the following day. An Annual Pass is valid at any state park recreation area for the calendar year. Colorado disabled veterans displaying Colorado Disabled Veteran (DV) license plates are admitted free without a pass.

This site was named after Richard Dudley, recently retired Assistant Region Manager for Colorado State Parks and former Cheyenne Mountain State Park Manager. He was also, early in his career, a park ranger at Lake Pueblo State Park. It was at Lake Pueblo State Park that Dudley’s affinity for stumps was revealed to his co-workers. He considered stumps to be a manifestation of life’s little obstacles; put here on earth to test the mettle and patience of men. He also would often refer to a stump as something that was difficult to “break”, since it contains few moving parts. Since some folks have a knack for breaking almost anything, he would occasionally refer to such individuals as being so mechanically challenged that they “Could break a stump”. He even briefly produced a newsletter outlining the adventures of those who were sometimes affectionately referred to as “stump breakers”. Dudley is also a pioneer geocacher, and is responsible for introducing the concept of geocaching to many other park managers with the State Parks system. It is in his honor that this site is named.

Lathrop State Park is 3 miles west of Walsenburg via US Hwy. 160. Please park your vehicle in the Hogback Trail parking lot. Begin your walk on the Hogback Trail to Point 4, and then descend the hogback backbone northward to cross the fence and continue to the geocache. Be aware that there are rattlesnakes in the park.

Several years ago Lathrop State Park purchased land that is NOT YET COMPLETELY FENCED. Read your park map. It is the square section above the words Hogback Ridge. There is a fence that runs through the words Hogback Ridge that was not removed when the new section was purchased, and is not considered part of the boundary fence. You must cross through this fence after leaving the Hogback Trail parking lot on your route to multi-geocache.

The first geocache is a 1 inch by 2 inch tube and the second geocache is a 2 inch by 8 inch plastic tube. They both wear black. The first tube contains coordinates to the second tube that contains a log to validate your find and souvenirs. Your option to replace the souvenir you selected with one of your own of equal or greater value.

Hints/Spoiler Info – Be careful crossing over/under barbed wire. Some people find it easier to crawl on the ground under the bottom barbed wire.

Additional Waypoints