The Sawatch Range dominates the western view and defines the Continental Divide, with fifteen peaks in the Upper Arkansas River Valley rising above 14,000 feet. Creeks run between the peaks through canyons dotted with hot springs to the Arkansas River, while ranch lands and open space spread across the valley floor, shared by elk, mule deer, pronghorn, and domestic herds. The valley’s many hot springs, along with volcanoes, earthquakes, and the Chalk Cliffs at the base of Mt. Princeton, reflect geologic turmoil and ongoing change. Human use of the valley followed game trails and the footpaths of native peoples, then European and American explorers, and later prospectors. From the earliest settlement, people established themselves in the valley’s wide meadows, and rough mining camps became vibrant communities because of the space, moderate climate, and good soils. Although development was constrained by limited water, settlers found ways to use that resource effectively. The bright white Chalk Cliffs are quartz altered by hot water springs, not chalk. Native Americans first frequented the Mount Princeton Hot Springs, and in 1860 a way station, hotel, and freight depot were built near the present hotel for freighters traveling over Tincup Pass. In 1879 a group from the Mary Murphy Mine built a three-story hotel there, but its fortunes declined as mining waned and the railroad removed its tracks. The Victorian hotel was dismantled in 1950 and its lumber shipped to Texas for new homes, and after extensive renovations to the pools and the addition of new lodge buildings, the resort now welcomes guests from around the world.