Region
The San Luis Valley
The San Luis Valley is a broad, high-altitude basin ringed by mountains in south-central Colorado. It is home to some of the oldest continuously settled towns in the state, the tallest dunes in North America at Great Sand Dunes, and a farming economy that runs on a carefully divided supply of surface water and groundwater. It's a place with deep Hispano roots, enormous skies, and a water story that shapes nearly every land decision, from Alamosa out to the small valley towns.
The places
Alamosa
The valley's rail-built hub, home to Adams State and the gateway to Great Sand Dunes.
Open the place page ->Creede
Colorado's last great silver boomtown, in a canyon with a cliff-blasted firehouse and a famous theater.
Open the place page ->Browse by county
Every address in this corner belongs to a county. Start with that county page when a town does not yet have a full guide; it gathers the local rules, rates, and notes tied to the county.
Notes from this corner
The small stories and useful rules tied to this part of Colorado.
Great Sand Dunes and the short season of Medano Creek
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve sits at the edge of the San Luis Valley, and its seasonal Medano Creek runs only for a stretch of spring and early summer.
Read the note ->San Luis is widely called Colorado's oldest town, settled in 1851
San Luis, the seat of Costilla County, dates to 1851 and is often described as the oldest continuously settled town in Colorado, founded by Hispano families moving north from New Mexico.
Read the note ->A steam train climbs out of Antonito and over a 10,000-foot pass
The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad runs a coal-fired narrow-gauge steam train 64 miles from Antonito over Cumbres Pass, on a line so intact it was named a National Historic Landmark.
Read the note ->Colorado's oldest church still holds Mass in Conejos
Our Lady of Guadalupe in Conejos is counted as Colorado's oldest parish, an adobe church still holding Mass, with a mid-December fiesta and an adobe prayer labyrinth.
Read the note ->In Saguache County, many farm wells belong to a groundwater subdistrict
Many larger San Luis Valley wells need an augmentation plan or water subdistrict membership to offset pumping impacts.
Read the note ->The wildlife refuges near Alamosa, and the crane migration
The Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge and its neighbors in the San Luis Valley are managed for wildlife, with their own access rules, and the valley draws large numbers of migrating sandhill cranes.
Read the note ->The San Luis Valley porch kit
Where to next
See the other corners at Explore Colorado, browse all 64 counties and the places with full guides in the place directory, or wander the stories in the Almanac.
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