Forty-five miles north of Cortez Lies Dove Creek, an isolated town where farming is the main industry with fields of alfalfa and beans covering the countryside. Dove Creek has come to be known as "the Pinto Bean Capitol of the World." One of the main reasons that pinto beans grow very well there is that the soil has a very high iron content, and is red in color. Often the local water supply will have tiny bits of this red silt in it which tends to stain laundry to a faint reddish tinge. It has been said through local legend that if a person gets the red soil of Dove Creek between their toes, they will feel a strong compelling drive to return to Dove Creek. Although Dove Creek and the surrounding area are located above large deposits of uranium, it has become too expensive to mine commercially and nearly all projects for this reason have been abandoned. The town is located approximately 8 miles from the state line with Utah, with a population nearing 800 residents.

Dolores was originally established as a station on the Rio Grande Southern Railway, replacing the town of Big Bend, which is now covered by the McPhee Reservoir, named for a lumber harvesting town also covered by the reservoir. Dolores is confined to a narrow valley bottom along the Dolores River near the point where the river turns from flowing southward out of the San Juan Mountains to the north. Built-up areas outside the city limits include extensive residential, commercial, and minor-industrial areas upstream in the valley floor and spreading out towards Highways 145 and 184.

Hotel: Sun Canyon Ranch, Dove Creek

Blue Mountain Cafe, Dove Creek
Cuisines: American, Coffee Shop