The San Luis Valley is the largest intermountain valley in the world, with a nearly flat floor covering 1,766,000 acres and an elevation of 7,650 feet.  The eastern boundary of the Valley is formed by the Sangre de Cristo mountains.  This mountain range begins in the Valley and extends south for 300 miles, ending 60 miles south of Albuquerque, New Mexico.  The Valley is bordered by the Continental Divide on the northwest and by the New Mexico state line on the south. 

The San Juan mountain range constitutes the western border of the Valley.   These mountains are less steep, densely wooded, and highly used for winter and summer recreation, as well as for some minor cattle grazing.  The two mountain ranges merge to the north at Poncha Pass; large portions of both of these ranges are protected National Forest lands. 

These high mountain ranges stay snow-capped until July and provide the abundant water supply that feeds the Valley's agriculture.  The melting snow creates numerous mountain streams that support paradises of aspens, ponderosa pines and blue spruce plus a large variety of wild berries that feed the many deer, elk, bear and other wildlife that thrive in these areas. With the sun shining through the shimmering aspen leaves and reflecting on the blue-green grasses and sparkling clear mountain streams, one can easily get a feel for the beauty and grandeur of the 8,194 square miles of Colorado's San Luis Valley.  [The San Luis Valley is about the same size as the state of Massachusetts; however, the population density in the Valley is 4.9 per square mile, as compared to 767.6 per square mile for Massachusetts.  Saguache county alone is larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined.] 

The nearest Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area is Denver.  Albuquerque, New Mexico is a four hour drive to the south. The nearest urban area is Pueblo, which is 2 1/2 hours away. 

Population Trends

The Valley is divided into six counties (Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Mineral, Rio Grande and Saguache) with each county having a county seat. These country seats, in these cases, are also the largest incorporated cities in the counties.  Many of the residents of the Valley live in unincorporated areas. 

The 1990 population of the Valley increased 6.0% over population figures in 1980, compared to only 1.2% the preceding decade (1970-1980). 

Percentage population gains ranked highest in Saguache County (17.4%), followed by Alamosa (15.4%), Costilla (3.9%) and Rio Grande (2.5%).  For cities and towns over 500, gains from 1980-1990 included Center (20.4%), Alamosa (11.0%), Monte Vista (10.8%), Sanford (9.2%) and Manassa (4.6%).  Losses occurred in Creede (-40.7%), Antonito (-20.7%), La Jara (-15.5%), Saguache (-11.0%), San Luis (-5.0%) and Del Norte (-3.6%). 

Rural and Urban Population

Most of the Valley population (70.4% in 1990) is classified, by Census definitions, as rural, compared with only 17.6% of the State.  People living on farms or ranches is only 6.5% even though agriculture is the major industry in the Valley.   Saguache has the highest percentage of its population living on farms (11.6%), followed by Costilla (7.3%), Rio Grande (7.0%), Conejos (6.6%) and Alamosa (4.6%).