San Luis Valley
Alamosa County
20 Porch Notes tied to Alamosa County — the local details that change from one part of Colorado to the next.
Money and taxes (1)
Water and land (3)
Water and land
Buying irrigated land near Alamosa: the water is its own deal
Farm and ranch parcels in the San Luis Valley often depend on irrigation water that is governed separately from the land, and that water can carry its own rights, costs, and limits.
Read note ->Water and land
In the San Luis Valley, a well comes with groundwater rules
Wells in the Rio Grande Basin around Alamosa fall under state groundwater rules that can require a well to replace the water it pumps, often through a subdistrict or an augmentation plan.
Read note ->Water and land
Why You Can Swim in Warm Water at 7,500 Feet North of Alamosa
Splashland, a beloved seasonal swimming pool a mile north of Alamosa, runs on geothermal water that drillers hit by accident in 1955 while looking for oil.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire (9)
Outdoors and wildfire
Blanca Peak and the rough road to Lake Como
Blanca Peak rises on Alamosa County's eastern edge, and the Forest Service describes the jeep road to its Lake Como trailhead as extremely rough and rocky, so most people walk it.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Dispersed camping in the Rio Grande National Forest
The Rio Grande National Forest around the San Luis Valley allows free dispersed camping outside developed campgrounds, but with real limits on where you park, how close to water, and how long you stay.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Fishing the Rio Grande: the rules change by stretch
The Rio Grande running through the San Luis Valley is a well-known trout fishery, but the bag limits, gear rules, and which fish you keep depend on the specific stretch you are standing on.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
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 note ->Outdoors and wildfire
San Luis Lakes State Wildlife Area: open water and great birding
San Luis Lakes State Wildlife Area north of Alamosa offers open water and wetlands for excellent waterfowl watching, with a few simple rules to plan around: an access pass, a seasonal nesting closure, and boating limits.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
The Rio Grande cutthroat, the valley's native trout
The Rio Grande cutthroat trout is the San Luis Valley's own native trout, and a decades-long recovery effort has kept this homegrown fish swimming in the high streams it has always called home.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
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 note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Why the Great Sand Dunes are a dark-sky place
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve is a certified International Dark Sky Park, and its dry, high, low-light setting makes it one of the easier places in Colorado to see a star-filled sky.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Zapata Falls: a short hike, a rough road, and slick rocks
Zapata Falls is a waterfall tucked in the Sangre de Cristo foothills south of the Great Sand Dunes, reached by a rough gravel road and a short hike that ends with wading over slippery rocks.
Read note ->Cars and driving (1)
Local rules (2)
Local rules
Near Alamosa, your address decides who makes the rules
Whether a property sits inside the City of Alamosa or in unincorporated Alamosa County changes which government sets zoning, building, and other local rules.
Read note ->Local rules
The City of Alamosa runs on a home-rule charter
Alamosa is a home-rule city with a council-manager government, meaning an elected council sets policy and a hired city manager runs day-to-day operations under the city's own charter.
Read note ->History and culture (4)
History and culture
Adams State University: a teachers' college built for the valley
Adams State in Alamosa began in the 1920s as a teachers' college meant to train teachers for the rural San Luis Valley, and it is named for the local rancher-turned-governor Billy Adams.
Read note ->History and culture
Alamosa County sits inside a national heritage area
Alamosa County is part of the Sangre de Cristo National Heritage Area, a congressionally designated region that honors the layered Indigenous, Hispano, and other cultures of the San Luis Valley.
Read note ->History and culture
The old Rio Grande depot in Alamosa, and what it is now
The historic Denver & Rio Grande Railroad depot on State Street in Alamosa, rebuilt after a 1907 fire and listed on the National Register, today houses the Colorado Welcome Center.
Read note ->History and culture
Why Alamosa sits where it does: the railroad put it there
Alamosa began as a railroad town built by the Denver & Rio Grande along the Rio Grande, which is why it grew into the hub of the San Luis Valley.
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