<p>The San Luis Valley is an extensive alpine valley in the U.S. states of Colorado and New Mexico covering approximately 8,000 square miles (21,000 sq km) and sitting at an average elevation of 7,664 feet (2,336 m) above sea level. 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 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. The San Luis Valley receives little precipitation and is made up of desert lands, but the temperatures can be very comfortable in the summer and very cold on winter nights.
</p><p>The San Luis Valley is the broad, generally flat, valley at the headwaters of the Rio Grande in north central New Mexico and south central Colorado. There is no clear southern boundary but the term is generally used to include the San Luis Hills of southern Colorado and the Taos Plateau of northern New Mexico. About 50 miles from east to west and about 150 miles from north to south, the valley is bounded on the east by the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and on the west by the San Juan Mountains.
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<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/people/75683070@N00">Ken Lund</a> from Reno, Nevada, USA
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<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kenlund/7235128470/">Northern End of San Luis Valley, Colorado</a>