Dotsero, Colorado

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Houses in Dotsero, Colorado along the south side of Interstate 70, along the Eagle River.
Houses in Dotsero, Colorado along the south side of Interstate 70, along the Eagle River.
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Map of Eagle County
Dotsero is at the confluence of the Eagle and Colorado Rivers in Eagle County.

Dotsero is small rural incorporated community in western Eagle County, Colorado in the United States. It is located at the confluence of the Eagle River with the Colorado River, along U.S. Highway 6 and Interstate 70, near the head of Glenwood Canyon, approximately 5 miles (8 km) west of Gypsum. The town consists mostly of a cluster of houses and trailers on both sides of the Eagle River.

Dotsero was an important railroad junction point and is located at the southern end of the Dotsero Cutoff of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad. The northern end of cutoff was named Orestod (Dotsero spelled backwards) near Bond, Colorado. Despite the common misconception that Dotsero is a shortening of "Dot Zero," the station name exists from the construction of the Standard Gauge railroad line to Glenwood Springs in the 1890s. Currently the railroad line to the east from this junction point over Tennessee Pass lies dormant.

Dotsero is also located near the volcano, dotsero. Dotsero last erupted in 2200 B.C

Smooth jazz band Dotsero are believed to have named themselves after the area.

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Dotsero is built at the base of Colorado's most recently active volcano, the Dotsero Crater, which, according to the USGS site, erupted 4,140 years ago. (see http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/LivingWith/VolcanicPast/Places/volcanic_past_colorado.html) The main industry at Dotsero for years consisted of making cinderblocks from the volcano.