Located in the
Southwest Region of the state. Pop.(2000) 1,934 and Elev. 2427FT. The county seat of
Gray County.
In the Cimarron River Drainage Basin, the community of Cimarron is on the north bank of the (often waterless) Arkansas River. From the big ridge on the north side you can see the whole town. It's a prosperous place with a new subdivision built around a lake. US Hwy 50 follows the original Santa Fe trail through Cimarron. Settled in 1878, got its name as the starting point of the shorter Cimarron or "Dry Route", (of the Santa Fe Trail), to Santa Fe New Mexico. Here the trail divided, one branch heading directly southwest, the other (present U.S.50) following the Arkansas River to Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site, (near La Junta, Colorado), then south over Raton Pass.
