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.
The Rio Grande in the United States or the Río Bravo in Mexico, also known as P’osoge in Tewa and Tó Ba’áadi in Navajo, is one of the principal rivers in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio Grande is 1,896 miles (3,051 km), making it the 4th longest river in the United States and in North America by main stem. It originates in south-central Colorado, in the United States, and flows to the Gulf of Mexico. The Rio Grande drainage basin (watershed) has an area of 182,200 square miles (472,000 km2); however, the endorheic basins that are adjacent to and within the greater drainage basin of the Rio Grande increase the total drainage-basin area to 336,000 square miles (870,000 km2).
Harlingen is a city in Cameron County in the central region of the Rio Grande Valley of the southern part of the U.S. state of Texas, about 30 miles (48 km) from the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The city covers more than 40 square miles (104 km2) and is the second-largest city in Cameron County, as well as the fourth-largest in the Rio Grande Valley. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 71,892.
Rio Grande County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 11,539. The county seat is Del Norte. The county is named for the Rio Grande, which flows through the county.
Founded in 1851, the Town of Manassa is a Statutory Town and is the most populous municipality in Conejos County, Colorado, United States. The town's population was 947 at the 2020 United States Census.
Del Norte is a Statutory Town that is the county seat of Rio Grande County, Colorado, United States. The town's name is most commonly pronounced /ˈdɛl nɔɹt/. The town population was 1,458 at the 2020 United States Census.
Questa is a village in Taos County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 1,770 at the 2010 census. The village has trails into the Rio Grande Gorge, trout fishing, and mountain lakes with trails that access the Sangre de Cristo Mountains that overlook the area. Questa is on the Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway, near the confluence of the Rio Grande and the Red River. The "Gateway to the Rio Grande del Norte Monument", its visitors can drive to an overlook of the Red River meeting the Rio Grande in the depth of the gorge. The Carson National Forest parallels Questa to the east. The Columbine Hondo Wilderness and Latir Peak Wildness are in the Carson National Forest close to Questa.
The Lower Rio Grande Valley, commonly known as the Rio Grande Valley or locally as the Valley or RGV, is a region spanning the border of Texas and Mexico located in a floodplain of the Rio Grande near its mouth. The region includes the southernmost tip of South Texas and a portion of northern Tamaulipas, Mexico. It consists of the Brownsville, Harlingen, Weslaco, Pharr, McAllen, Edinburg, Mission, San Juan, and Rio Grande City metropolitan areas in the United States and the Matamoros, Río Bravo, and Reynosa metropolitan areas in Mexico. The area is generally bilingual in English and Spanish, with a fair amount of Spanglish due to the region's diverse history and transborder agglomerations. It is home to some of the poorest cities in the nation, as well as many unincorporated, persistent poverty communities called colonias. A large seasonal influx occurs of "winter Texans" — people who come down from the north for the winter and then return north before summer arrives.
Rio Grande is a river flowing to the Gulf of Mexico, forming a part of the Mexican-United States border.
Rio Grande National Forest is a 1.86 million-acre (7,530 km2) U.S. National Forest located in southwestern Colorado. The forest encompasses the San Luis Valley, which is the world's largest agricultural alpine valley, as well as one of the world's largest high deserts located around mountains. The Rio Grande rises in the forest, and the Continental Divide runs along most of its western border. The forest lies in parts of nine counties. In descending order of land area within the forest they are Saguache, Mineral, Conejos, Rio Grande, Hinsdale, San Juan, Alamosa, Archuleta, and Custer counties. Forest headquarters are currently located in Monte Vista, Colorado, but plan to move to Del Norte. There are local ranger district offices in Del Norte, La Jara, and Saguache.
Tourism is a growing sector and key to the economy of several regions of Brazil. The country had 6.589 million visitors in 2018, ranking in terms of the international tourist arrivals as the second main destination in South America after Argentina and third in Latin America after Mexico and Argentina. Revenues from international tourists reached US$5.8 billion in 2015, continuing a recovery trend from the 2008–2009 economic crisis.
The New Mexico meridian, is longitude 106° 53′ 40″ west from Greenwich. It extends throughout New Mexico and into Colorado, and together with the baseline, at latitude 34° 15′ 25″ north, governs township and range surveys in New Mexico, except those in the northwest corner of the state which refer to the Navajo meridian and baseline. The New Mexico meridian and Baseline also provide the basis for township and range surveys in the upper valley of the Rio Grande del Norte in Colorado.
State Highway 112 (SH 112) is a 27.802-mile-long (44.743 km) state highway in southern Colorado. Built in 1916 and formally defined in 1922, the route begins at its western end in Del Norte at a junction with U.S. Highway 160 (US 160). From there the road travels east crossing US 285 two miles (3.2 km) west of Center before reaching its eastern terminus at Hooper where it meets SH 17.
Platoro Dam is a dam in Conejos County, Colorado.
The Rio Grande del Norte National Monument is an approximately 242,555-acre (98,159 ha) area of public lands in Taos County, New Mexico, United States, proclaimed as a national monument on March 25, 2013, by President Barack Obama under the provisions of the Antiquities Act. It consists of the Rio Grande Gorge and surrounding lands, managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
Bennett Peak is a high and prominent mountain summit in the San Juan Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains System, in southwestern Colorado.
Hispanic and Latino Coloradans are residents of the state of Colorado who are of Hispanic or Latino ancestry. As of 2020, Hispanics and Latinos of any race made up 21% of the state's population, or 1,269,520 of the state's 5,770,545 residents.
Ranchitos del Norte is a census-designated place (CDP) in Starr County, Texas, United States. It is a new CDP for the 2010 census, with a population of 112. Parts of this new CDP were formed from the former Los Villareales CDP.
The Tusas Mountains are a mountain range in northern New Mexico, extending slightly into southern Colorado. They are considered the southeasternmost part of the San Juan Mountains. Grouse Mesa, 11,407 feet (3,477 m), is the highest peak in the range. The mountains are located to the west of Taos and northwest of Santa Fe. The Tusas Mountains are a wide region of upland mesas and gently sloping mountains, dissected in places by deep canyons.
