San Luis Valley
Costilla County
20 Porch Notes tied to Costilla County — the local details that change from one part of Colorado to the next.
Money and taxes (1)
Home and property (1)
Water and land (2)
Water and land
In Costilla County, a well sits inside the San Luis Valley's water rules
Wells in Costilla County are part of the San Luis Valley's managed groundwater system, where what a well owes depends on its permit, its aquifer, and the state's basin rules.
Read note ->Water and land
Sanchez Reservoir is a warm-water fishing spot, open only for fishing
Sanchez Reservoir State Wildlife Area south of San Luis offers warm-water fishing and a boat ramp, but public access is limited to fishing and needs a license or SWA pass.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire (6)
Outdoors and wildfire
Climbing Culebra Peak means booking a date and paying the ranch first
Culebra Peak, a 14,047-foot summit in Costilla County, sits on the private Cielo Vista Ranch and can only be climbed by advance reservation for a per-person fee on set days.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Costilla County reaches from the Rio Grande to the Sangre de Cristo crest
Public land in Costilla County runs from valley floor near the Rio Grande up into the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, managed mostly by the BLM and the Forest Service with their own access rules.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Mountain Home Reservoir is a stocked-trout lake with camping
Mountain Home Reservoir State Wildlife Area east of Fort Garland is an irrigation lake stocked with trout in summer and open to ice fishing in winter, with designated camping.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Reaching Blanca Peak means walking or crawling up the Lake Como road
Blanca Peak, one of Colorado's highest summits, is reached from a trailhead off Highway 150 where a rough jeep road to Lake Como turns back most vehicles.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Smith Reservoir is a fishing lake, and boats face inspection rules
Smith Reservoir State Wildlife Area near Blanca is a fishing spot where, as on Colorado waters generally, motorboats and sailboats must be registered, carry an ANS stamp, and meet aquatic nuisance species inspection requirements.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
The Sangre de Cristo Wilderness is close to Costilla County, not in it
The Sangre de Cristo Wilderness lies just beyond Costilla County's northwest corner, and its special camping and campfire rules apply on the national forest side of the range — while much of Costilla's own high country is private land.
Read note ->Cars and driving (1)
Local rules (1)
History and culture (8)
History and culture
Costilla County sits inside the Sangre de Cristo National Heritage Area
Much of Costilla County lies within the Sangre de Cristo National Heritage Area, a Congress-recognized cultural region that ties together San Luis, Fort Garland, and other historic sites.
Read note ->History and culture
Costilla County's map still follows a Mexican-era land grant
The shape of land, water, and settlement around San Luis traces back to the Sangre de Cristo Land Grant and the families who settled it in the 1850s.
Read note ->History and culture
Fort Garland Museum preserves an 1858 adobe army post
The Fort Garland Museum and Cultural Center, run by History Colorado, preserves an adobe fort built in 1858 that once housed Kit Carson and Buffalo Soldiers of the Ninth Cavalry.
Read note ->History and culture
Near San Luis, some mountain land carries old shared-use rights
The mountain land east of San Luis, long known as La Sierra, is tied to historic common-use rights that courts have addressed, and they are a real factor in local land questions.
Read note ->History and culture
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 note ->History and culture
San Luis's old plaza is a registered historic district built in adobe
The center of San Luis, the Plaza de San Luis de la Culebra, is a National Register historic district of early adobe buildings, with the town's commons, the Vega, and the People's Ditch nearby.
Read note ->History and culture
San Luis's Stations of the Cross climb a mesa above the oldest town in Colorado
A free, year-round walk under a mile long climbs La Mesa de la Piedad y de la Misericordia past Huberto Maestas's bronze Stations of the Cross to a hilltop adobe chapel and grotto.
Read note ->History and culture
The Adobe Chapel at Viejo San Acacio, Often Called Colorado's Oldest Church
An adobe mission chapel that Hispano settlers raised near the Culebra River in the 1850s, still gathering its community for Mass and a yearly feast day.
Read note ->