La Junta is a home rule municipality in, the county seat of, and the most populous municipality in Otero County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 7,322 at the 2020 United States census. La Junta is located on the Arkansas River in southeastern Colorado east of Pueblo. The city is the home of Otero College and hosts the annual Tarantula Fest.
History
La Junta (Spanish for ) was named for the fact it rested at the intersection of the Santa Fe Trail and a pioneer road to Pueblo. The town developed near Bent's Fort, a fur trading post of the 19th century. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway passed through La Junta, with a branch line to Denver separating here.
During World War II, La Junta had an Army Air Force Training Base outside town. An Air Force detachment of the Strategic Air Command remained there until modern flight simulators developed in the 1980s rendered live flight unnecessary for pilot training maneuvers. At least one military aircraft crashed closeby during such training maneuvers.
Geography
The area is high plains terrain, dry with short grass prairie and sagebrush, and is part of the Southwestern Tablelands ecological region. This area of Colorado is often the warmest. Summer brings numerous days above . The hottest temperature recorded in La Junta was on June 28, 1990, and June 24, 2012, while the coldest temperature recorded was on January 20, 1948.