Editing San Luis Valley (section)

===Tourist attractions===
The San Luis Valley is home to the Great Sand Dunes National Park. The National Park is Open 24/7 year round. There are no timed entries or reservations to visit. The tallest dunes in North America are the centerpiece in a diverse landscape of grasslands, wetlands, forests, alpine lakes, and tundra. Stay on a moonless night to experience countless stars in this International Dark Sky Park.

Tourist attractions suggested by ''[[National Geographic Traveler]]'' include the Monte Vista Crane Festival in March,<ref>[https://mvcranefest.org/ Crane festival]</ref> Los Caminos Antiguos, a regional road network, the Luther Bean Museum at [[Adams State University]]. Multiple Hot springs the Sand Dunes Swimming Pool Hot Spring and Joyful Journey Hot Springs. The Firedworks Gallery on Main Street in Alamosa for regional history and art, and regional [[Mexican food]]. Also recommended near Alamosa for wildlife viewing are The Alamosa Ranch north of town and the [[Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge]] to the southeast. To the northeast of Alamosa lie the [[San Luis State Park|San Luis Lakes State Wildlife Area]], the San Luis Lakes and the [[Great Sand Dunes National Park]]{{efn|To reach the [[Great Sand Dunes National Park|Sand Dunes N.P.]], turn east at [[Mosca, Colorado]] from [[Colorado State Highway 17|State Highway&nbsp;17]] onto [[Colorado State Highway 150|State Highway&nbsp;150]]. Near the Great Sand Dunes, where only [[camping]] is available, the Great Sand Dunes Lodge and the [[Nature Conservancy]]'s Zapata Ranch are recommended for lodging. After viewing or visiting the Great Sand Dunes, one can travel south to [[Fort Garland, Colorado|Ft.&nbsp;Garland]].}}

At [[Fort Garland, Colorado]] south of the Great Sand Dunes on [[U.S. Route 160 in Colorado|U.S. Highway&nbsp;160]] the Fort Garland Museum is recommended and further south on [[Colorado State Highway 159|State Highway&nbsp;159]] at [[San Luis, Colorado]], the oldest town in Colorado, the bronze sculptures by Huberto Maestas, depicting the [[Stations of the Cross]]. From San Luis, the National Geographic road trip suggests traveling west on [[Colorado State Highway 142|State Highway&nbsp;142]] through [[Manassa, Colorado]], then south on [[U.S. Route 285 in Colorado|U.S. Highway&nbsp;285]] past [[Conejos, Colorado]] then west on [[Colorado State Highway 17|State Highway&nbsp;17]] over [[Cumbres Pass]] to [[Chama, New Mexico]] paralleling the route of the [[narrow gauge]] [[Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad]].<ref name=NGRoadTrip>{{cite magazine |title=Road Trip: San Luis Valley, Colorado |series=National Geographic’s "Drives of a Lifetime" |journal=National Geographic |url=http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/road-trips/san-luis-valley-colorado-road-trip/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100922103635/http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/road-trips/san-luis-valley-colorado-road-trip/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 22, 2010 |access-date=September 22, 2012 |first1=Michael |first2=Laura |last1=Murphy |last2=Murphy |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

[[Rock climbing]] and [[camping]] are available at [[Penitente Canyon]] and other locations. Rito Seco Park, located east of San Luis and named for a creek called [[Rito Seco]], was established as a campground in the 1970s. However, it lacked hiking trails. Then in 2022, after more than a decade of planning, Costilla County and an organization called San Luis Valley Great Outdoors built three hiking [[trail]]s and one [[Single track (mountain biking)|single track mountain bike trail]] in the park.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Boster |first=Seth |date=2023-03-24 |title=Open space growing near new trails in Colorado's San Luis Valley |url=https://gazette.com/life/outdoors/open-space-growing-near-new-trails-in-colorados-san-luis-valley/article_3d74d888-c7f9-11ed-84ec-137b808fde2f.html |access-date=2023-08-10 |newspaper=[[The Gazette (Colorado Springs)]]  |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Woods |first=Owen |date=July 17, 2022 |title=Rito Seco Trail opens in Costilla County
 |url=https://www.alamosacitizen.com/rito-seco-trail-opens-in-costilla-county/ |url-status=live |work=Alamosa Citizen  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221204145750/https://www.alamosacitizen.com/rito-seco-trail-opens-in-costilla-county/ |archive-date=December 4, 2022 |access-date=August 4, 2023 |quote=}}</ref><ref name=Boster>{{cite news |last=Boster |first=Seth |date=August 8, 2022 |title=Near Colorado's oldest town, new trails represent bigger dream
 |url=https://gazette.com/life/outdoors/near-colorados-oldest-town-new-trails-represent-bigger-dream/article_e4db0d1a-135c-11ed-8492-13bbaf6a384e.html |url-status=live |newspaper=[[The Gazette (Colorado Springs)]]  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230324161202/https://gazette.com/life/outdoors/near-colorados-oldest-town-new-trails-represent-bigger-dream/article_e4db0d1a-135c-11ed-8492-13bbaf6a384e.html |archive-date=March 24, 2023 |access-date=August 4, 2023 |quote=}}</ref>

The San Luis Valley is also home to the Colorado Gator Reptile Rescue.  The Reptile rescue is open to the public to view and interact with many different types of reptiles from Gators to Tortoises.  The rescue uses thermal hot springs water to maintain the gators through the winter months and is home to Morris the Movie Star Gator<ref>{{Cite web |title=Colorado Gators – Reptile Rescue and Education |url=https://coloradogators.com/ |access-date=2024-06-25 |website=coloradogators.com}}</ref>