SOUTH FORK – Cheers from spectators mingled with the rip-roaring sound of chainsaws on Saturday, July 20, as the 30th Annual Logger Days Festival kicked off in South Fork.
The scent of sawdust mixed with the aroma from several food trucks filled the air as people made their way either to the grandstands to watch the show or to the lot full of vendors.
Saturday morning started with the ax throwing event where competitors heaved long-handled axes toward their targets, competing like playing darts. From that point on, the day progressed with several logging-based events such as the two-man crosscut, choker races and much more.
South Fork Logger Days is one of many competitions held across the country, though numbers are dwindling every year, South Fork holds its place among the best logging competitions in the country and is well attended every year.
The community center was also packed with vendors from all over Southwestern Colorado. Logger Days marks mid-summer and is extremely popular among vendors in the area. This year also marked the 30th anniversary of the event and with that came even more enthusiasm from attendees, competitors, and vendors.
South Fork began as a stage stop for weary travelers in the mid-1870s for the Barlow and Sanderson Stagecoach. The stage came to the area from Missouri and opened a stage route in 1874 in Del Norte. At that time, only a toll road ran from Del Norte up the Rio Grande to where South Fork is now, and the town was known to travelers as Baxterville.
Soon after the stage came to Del Norte, it was not long before the route stretched further west turning the toll road into a stage road and bringing travelers to areas located both west and north from the junction in South Fork. As mining encampments began to spring up in the Summitville area, South Fork turned into a lumber community and sawmills started up to process timber for the mines.
In 1882, the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad made its way from Alamosa, through what would become Monte Vista into Del Norte and pushed further west marking the end of the Barlow and Sanderson Stagecoach. Though stagecoaches lasted another several years, the rail became the main source of travel in the area and began what would become the area’s Boom days.
The town survived the lumber industry for most of its history until the late 1980s when laws changed, making it harder to cut timber throughout the US. After the lumber industry basically shut down, the town, as many others in Colorado did at the time, turned to tourism for economic growth which is what the town relies on today.
