The San Luis Valley is a region in south-central Colorado with a small portion overlapping into New Mexico. 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. It contains 6 counties and portions of 3 others. It is an extensive high-elevation depositional basin of approximately 8,000 square miles (21,000 km2) with an average elevation of 7,664 feet (2,336 m) above sea level. The valley is a section of the Rio Grande Rift and is drained to the south by the Rio Grande, which rises in the San Juan Mountains to the west of the valley and flows south into New Mexico. The San Luis Valley has a cold desert climate but has substantial water resources from the Rio Grande and groundwater.
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in Colorado sits directly west of the Sangre de Cristo Range, which is featured in the background.
Typical greasewood "chico brush" in the San Luis Closed Basin of the northern San Luis Valley in Colorado. Taken just south of the bridge over La Garita Creek on Highway 17 between Hooper and Moffat, Colorado. View is to the southeast. The Great Sand Dunes are in the background as are the Sangre De Cristo Range. Medano and Mosca Passes are the low points, the Sierra Blanca is to the right.
Colorado is a landlocked state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Colorado borders Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas to the east, Oklahoma to the southeast, New Mexico to the south, Utah to the west, and meets Arizona to the southwest at the Four Corners. Colorado is noted for its landscape of mountains, forests, high plains, mesas, canyons, plateaus, rivers, and desert lands. Colorado is one of the Mountain States and is often considered to be part of the southwestern United States. The high plains of Colorado may be considered a part of the midwestern United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains. Colorado is the eighth most extensive and 21st most populous U.S. state. The United States Census Bureau estimated the population of Colorado at 5,877,610 as of July 1, 2023, a 1.80% increase since the 2020 United States census.
The ruins of the Cliff Palace of Mesa Verde, photographed by Gustaf Nordenskiöld in 1891
Great Kiva at Chimney Rock in the San Juan Mountains of Southwestern Colorado. It was built by the Ancient Pueblo peoples.
The Canyons of the Ancients Visitor Center & Museum in Dolores
Mount of the Holy Cross, photographed by William Henry Jackson in 1874