For most travelers the State of Colorado evokes images of snow dusted mountains rising dramatically above the fruited plain. Frocked in dense evergreen forests and chiseled from rough hewn granite “the mountains” dominate the marketing idea that is Colorado much in the way Hawaii is supposed synonymous with powder sanded beaches and California is known for smoggy gridlock. Deserved or not places such as these eventually become so defined by their own reputations that many fascinating, challenging places that don’t match up with the popular preconceived image are neglected wholesale.

So it is that Eastern Colorado sits isolated on the High Plains, hidden in plain sight from myriad visitors who never venture farther east than the airport. Largely forgotten by time, and some say state government, Eastern Colorado illustrates the illusory nature of the American Dream, as poignantly as anyplace in the country. Sullenly juxtaposed with the urban maw of the rapidly spreading Front Range the open spaces of Eastern Colorado are eerily alluring and mysterious.

This is Colorado’s Empty Quarter, one can drive hours down county roads with your own dust trail the only break on the horizon. Here in the dry dusty boondocks are nestled scores of small towns in various degrees of decay and isolation. There is virtually no way to see this region in any meaningful way without a car. Keeping your petrol tank full is crucial as filling stations can be alarmingly scarce away from the highways. The most fascinating and haunting aspect of visiting towns like Kit Carson, Crowley, Springfield, and Eads is the combined effect of being very far removed from any meaningfully large human settlement, coming upon one of the only towns for miles and finding it supremely neglected and decrepit.