The San Luis Valley is an extensive alpine valley in the United States states of Colorado and New Mexico covering approximately 8,000 square miles and sitting at an average elevation of 7500 feet above sea level. For the climate of the mountains named the Alps, see Climate of the Alps. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The State of Colorado ( or chiefly by nonresidents) is a state located in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States of America. New Mexico ( is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States of America. The valley sits atop the Rio Grande Rift and is drained to the south by the Rio Grande River, which rises in the San Juan Mountains to the west of the valley and flows south into New Mexico. The Rio Grande runs a north-south course in New Mexico and Colorado The San Juan Mountains are a rugged Mountain range in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado. New Mexico ( is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States of America. The valley is approximately 122 miles (196 km) long and 74 miles (119 km) wide, extending from the Continental Divide on the northwest rim into New Mexico on the south. A continental divide is a line of elevated Terrain which forms a border between two watersheds such that Water falling on one side of the line eventually New Mexico ( is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States of America.
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Geography
The San Luis Valley is generally considered to comprise 6 Colorado counties: Saguache, Alamosa, Rio Grande, Conejos, Costilla and Mineral. Saguache County is the seventh most extensive of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. Alamosa County is one of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. Rio Grande County is one of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. Conejos County is one of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado in the United States. Costilla County is the ninth least populous of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. Mineral County is the third least populous of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. The principal towns are: Alamosa, Monte Vista, Del Norte, South Fork, Saguache, Center, Fort Garland, San Luis, Antonito, La Jara, Capulin, Manassa, Sanford,Crestone, Villa Grove, Hooper, Mosca, San Acacio, Colorado and a number of smaller locations, some ghost towns. The City of Alamosa is a Home Rule Municipality that is the County seat and the most populous city of Alamosa County, Colorado, United The City of Monte Vista is a Home Rule Municipality that is the most populous city in Rio Grande County, Colorado, United States. The Town of Del Norte is a Statutory Town in and the County seat of Rio Grande County, Colorado, United States. South Fork is a Statutory Town in Rio Grande County, Colorado, United States. The historic Town of Saguache (səˈwætʃ suh-WATCH is a Statutory Town that is the County seat. The Town of Center is a Statutory Town in Rio Grande and Saguache Counties in the U Fort Garland is a Census-designated place (CDP in Costilla County, Colorado, United States. The historic Town of San Luis is a Statutory Town in the County seat of and the most populous town of Costilla County, Colorado, The Town of Antonito is a Statutory Town located in Conejos County, Colorado, United States. La Jara is a Statutory Town in Conejos County, Colorado, United States. Capulin is an Unincorporated town and US Post Office in Conejos County, Colorado, United States. The Town of Manassa is a Statutory Town that is the most populous town in Conejos County, Colorado, United States. Sanford is a Statutory Town in Conejos County, Colorado, United States. Crestone is a Statutory Town in Saguache County in Southwestern Colorado, United States. Villa Grove is an unincorporated Town and a US Post Office located in Saguache County, Colorado, United States. Hooper is a Statutory Town located in the San Luis Valley in Alamosa County, Colorado, United States. Mosca is an unincorporated town and a US Post Office in Alamosa County, Colorado, United States. San Acacio is an unincorporated town in Conejos County, Colorado, United States. A ghost town is a Town or City that has been abandoned usually because the economic activity that supported it has failed or due to natural or human-caused A few other counties of Colorado have some land in the Rio Grande Basin including Archuleta County, Hinsdale County and San Juan County. Archuleta County is one of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. Hinsdale County is the least densely populated of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. San Juan County is the least populous of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado in the United States.
The Sangre de Cristo Mountains form the eastern border of the valley. The Sangre de Cristo Mountains ( Spanish for " Blood of Christ " are the southernmost subrange of the Rocky Mountains. Blanca Peak is prominent at the southern end of the northernmost section of the mountains, which is known as the Sangre de Cristo Range. Blanca Peak is a Fourteener in the US state of Colorado. It is the fourth highest mountain in the state and the seventh highest in the Contiguous This article is about the northern-most portion of the larger Sangre de Cristo Mountains There are several passes, with elevations between 9,000 and 10,000 feet (2,700 and 3,000 m), giving access to the valley. La Veta pass, through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, is used by US Highway 160 and by the San Luis and Rio Grande Railroad (formerly a branch of the Denver & Rio Grande Western) tracks. US Route 160 is a 1465 mile (2358 km long east-west United States highway in the Midwestern United States. The San Luis and Rio Grande Railroad is a Class III railroad operating in Colorado. Other passes used historically were Medano, Mosca and Sangre de Cristo Passes. Otto Mears was the engineering genius behind the construction of a railroad link that ran from the Arkansas River, over Poncha Pass (at the north end of the valley), and into the San Luis Valley. Poncha Pass (9010 ft /2745 m) is a Mountain pass in South-Central Colorado ( USA)
The Great Sand Dunes is a famous feature of the valley. Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve is a United States National Park located in the easternmost parts of Alamosa County and Saguache County, It lies directly to the west of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The dunes can reach 750 feet high. The Great Sands Dunes National Park and Preserve is now in place to protect both the dunes and the numerous archeological sites found in the area. The natural valley aquifer is close to the surface in this part of the valley, and helps with maintenance of water levels in the San Luis Lakes, just to the west of the sand dunes.
Elevation rises as you go north in the valley to Poncha Pass, used now by US Highway 285 and historically by the narrow gauge tracks of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. US Route 285 is a north-south United States highway, running 845 miles (1260 km through the states of Texas, New Mexico and Colorado. A narrow gauge railway (or narrow gauge railroad) is a Railway that has a Track gauge narrower than the of Standard gauge railways The Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, generally referred to as the Rio Grande, became the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad in 1920 and is today a Fallen
History
The San Luis Valley was long part of the lands of the numerous and powerful Ute Indians. The Utes (/juːts/ " yoots " are an ethnically related group of American Indians now living primarily in Utah and Colorado. The Valley was the first portion of Colorado to be settled by people of European descent: the first Spanish land grant in the area was made in 1742, but farmers and ranchers from northern New Mexico may have homesteaded as early as the middle 1600s. New Mexico ( is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States of America. The area was administered as part of the Spanish, later Mexican, province of Nuevo Mexico until the area was purchased by the United States as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ( Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo in Spanish) is the Peace treaty, largely dictated by the United States to Extensive settlement began in the Valley, again primarily by Hispanic farmers and ranchers from New Mexico in the 1850s. The history of the post-war US military presence in the Valley is preserved at Fort Garland and other sites in the Valley, which became part of the Territory of Colorado in 1861. Fort Garland (1858 - 1883 Colorado Designed to house 2 companies of soldiers to protect settlers in the San Luis Valley, which was the Territory of New Mexico Today, the Valley has the largest native Hispanic population in Colorado; many families are directly descended from the original New Mexican settlers. The original Ute population was confined to the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Indian reservations in the late 1800s. Ute Mountain (or Ute Peak or Sleeping Ute Mountain) is a peak within the Ute Mountains, a small mountain range in the southwestern corner of
Land ownership and management
About 50% of the 2,000,000 acres (8,000 km²) in the San Luis Valley is privately owned. Much of the land in the Valley floor itself was originally part of large Spanish and Mexican land grants.
500,000 acres (2,000 km²) on the borders of the valley (generally adjacent to National Forest Lands) are managed by the Bureau of Land Management, BLM, a division of the United States Department of the Interior. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior which administers America's Public lands totaling approximately The United States Department of the Interior ( DOI) is a Cabinet department of the United States government that manages and conserves most federally This land is usually leased to neighboring ranches for grazing for a nominal fee. Part of the value of a ranch is its continuing lease of BLM or National Forest lands. A ranch is an area of landscape including various structures given primarily to the practice of ranching the practice of raising grazing livestock such as Cattle
Public lands in the mountains surrounding the San Luis Valley are generally part of the Rio Grande National Forest and are managed by the United States Forest Service. "National forest" redirects here for the National Forest in England see National Forest England; for those in Brazil see List of Brazilian National Forests
Large areas of private lands have either been subdivided into subdivisions of small "ranch" lots or have been sold or donated to the Federal government and make up portions of the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, other wildlife preserves, and various state wildlife sites.
Agriculture and wildlife
Agriculture in the San Luis Valley is generally concentrated around the Colorado towns of Alamosa, Monte Vista and Center. The City of Alamosa is a Home Rule Municipality that is the County seat and the most populous city of Alamosa County, Colorado, United The City of Monte Vista is a Home Rule Municipality that is the most populous city in Rio Grande County, Colorado, United States. The Town of Center is a Statutory Town in Rio Grande and Saguache Counties in the U Principal crops include potatoes, head lettuce and barley. The potato is a Starchy Tuberous crop Vegetable from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae Lettuce ( Lactuca sativa) is a Temperate annual or Biennial plant of the daisy family Asteraceae. Barley ( Hordeum vulgare) is an annual Cereal Grain, which serves as a major animal Feed crop, with smaller amounts used for Less favored areas with a shorter growing season and less access to water rights tend to be devoted to alfalfa and grazing. Alfalfa ( Medicago sativa) is a flowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae cultivated as an important forage crop Grazing generally describes a type of Predation in which an Herbivore feeds on Plants (such as Grasses, or more broadly on a multicellular Broad areas, especially in Saguache County, Colorado have a high water table or are even flooded part of the year. Saguache County is the seventh most extensive of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. The water table is the level at which the ground water pressure is equal to Atmospheric pressure. Uncultivated land is often covered with "chico", low brush such as rabbitbrush, greasewood and other woody species. For Gray (or Rubber and Parry's Rabbitbrush see Ericameria Chrysothamnus, common names Rabbitbrush and Chamisa, is a Greasewood ( Sarcobatus) is a genus of one or two Species of Flowering plants Traditionally it has been treated in the family Chenopodiaceae Cropland is typically irrigated with large (1/4-mile diameter) center-pivot irrigation systems, and a common feature of the Rio Grande Delta area where the Rio Grande enters the valley are large piles of potato-sized rocks screened from the soil. Center-pivot irrigation (sometimes called central pivot irrigation) also called circle irrigation, is a method of crop Irrigation in which equipment
The area supports a wide variety of wildlife. Sandhill cranes migrate through the valley every spring and fall. The Sandhill Crane ( Grus canadensis) is a large crane of North America and extreme northeastern Siberia. The Monte Vista Crane Festival takes place in March, centering on the wildlife refuge located six miles south of town. A wildlife refuge, also called a wildlife sanctuary, may be a naturally-occurring sanctuary such as an Island, that provides protection for Species from Occasionally, a whooping crane can be spotted among the thousands of grey sandhills. The Whooping Crane ( Grus americana) the tallest North American bird is an Endangered crane species named for its whooping sound and call The valley is a flyway for many migrating birds including avocets, bald eagles, goldfinches, and a plethora of hawk varieties. The four species of Avocets are Waders in the same Avian family as the Stilts They are found in warm or hot climates The Bald Eagle ( Haliaeetus leucocephalus) is a Bird of prey found in North America that is most recognizable as the national bird and The term hawk can be used in several ways In strict usage in Europe and Asia, to mean any of the Species in the Subfamily
Artistic community
There are over 500 known artists living in the San Luis Valley as evidenced by an onging directory maintained by Monte Vista artists' group, The Art Thing,[1] The Art Thing's membership boasts several nationally recognized artists working in various media. Monte Vista is also home to the [2]Monte Arts Council as well as several festivals and an art tour that attracts artists from as far away as California and North Carolina.
The San Luis Valley is home to four active live theaters, two at Adams State College, The Creed Repertory Theater and Rocky Mountain Stage in Monte Vista. In August there are two major Music Festivals, the Crestone Music Festival and Spanish Trails Music Festival and Mexican Rodeo. Music in the valley has two well known sponsors in the South Fork Music Association and the Alamosa Live Music Association.
Economy
Predominantly agricultural in nature, the area is also one of the poorest rural areas of Colorado, and is a net exporter of its children. Tourism has become a more important part of the economy in recent years, coupled with attempts to establish the area as a retirement community. Adams State College, a government-run four-year college at Alamosa, with approximately 2,500 resident students, is the major educational institution in the Valley. Adams State College is a small state-supported Liberal arts College in Alamosa, Colorado, U San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center, a full service Acute-Care hospital and specialty physician clinic is the largest employer in the Valley with over 600 employees. San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center (SLVRMC, is located in the San Luis Valley in Alamosa, Colorado and serves residents and visitors in southern Colorado The arts are becoming an increasing force in developing the economy of the San Luis Valley.
The "Mysterious" Valley
In 1996 paranormal researcher Chris O'Brien published a bestselling book, The Mysterious Valley. Paranormal is an Umbrella term used to describe unusual Phenomena or experiences that lack an obvious Scientific explanation O'Brien, who lives in the San Luis Valley, wrote about the numerous strange events he had investigated in the valley. According to O'Brien, UFO sightings, Bigfoot sightings, cattle mutilations, weird noises and apparations, and unusual military activity all occurred in the San Luis Valley on a frequent basis. Bigfoot or Sasquatch is alleged to be an Ape -like creature inhabiting remote forests mainly in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States and Canada Cattle mutilation (also known as bovine excision) is the apparent killing and then Mutilation of Cattle under unusual or anomalous circumstances O'Brien went on to publish two more books about the paranormal activities in the valley. In 1997 O'Brien and the San Luis Valley were prominently featured on the TBS television documentary Searching for UFOs. TBS is an American Cable television network that shows sports and a variety of programming with a focus on comedy However, skeptics have charged that the San Luis Valley has no more unusual happenings or stories than any other region, and that people such as O'Brien have used and exaggerated "tall tales" from locals to publish books of dubious merit.
References
External links
- sanluisvalley.us San Luis Valley Information Center
- Flickr Photos
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