Wet Mountain Valley

The sparse remains of two former mining towns, Rosita and Querida, are 7 miles (11 km) east of Westcliffe.

Grape Creek begins in the south of Custer County near Music Pass and flows north into DeWeese Reservoir; from there it enters a narrow gorge before reaching the Arkansas River.

Texas Creek begins northwest of Westcliffe and flows to the northeast meeting the Arkansas River at US Highway 50.

The designation as a dark sky community requires a local effort to limit light pollution.

[8] The Wet Mountain Valley has a Dfb climate (humid continental with warm summers and cold winters) in the Köppen Classification system and DCblo (humid continental with mild summers and cold winters) in the Trewartha climate classification system.