Alamosa Colorado literally grew up overnight.  In June 1878, the City of Alamosa went from a tent City to a rail center for the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad.  According to local legend, the rail crews were fed in Garland City in the morning then the building was placed on a flat car and the crews were fed dinner from the same building in Alamosa that night.  Many of the City’s first buildings were brought in whole by the railroad from Garland City. Alamosa was incorporated on August 30, 1878.  Alamosa, which means “cottonwood” in Spanish, is the hub of the San Luis Valley for retail and services with many nearby attractions including the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve.

More Alamosa Town Facts

If you love the outdoors, Alamosa is for you.  Alamosa is surrounded by rugged mountain peaks and numerous recreation opportunities including the City owned Cattails Golf Course. The Rio Grande Scenic Railroad provides excursion trains from Alamosa to La Veta and a connection to the Cumbres and Toltec Railway. The train route takes you through breathtaking country you can’t see from the highway. Home to Adams State College and Trinidad State Junior College, higher education opportunities and cultural events abound. With many hotels and restaurants the City of Alamosa is a wonderful place to stay.

Alamosa’s rich cultural heritage is un-distilled to this day, still very much alive in the arts, foods and events in the area.

Alamosa is thrilled to announce their grand opening of Colorado’s newest Colorado Welcome Center in the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad depot. This is one of ten Welcome Centers in the state, with helpful travel councilors, maps and brochures for the entire state! The Center is located at the intersection of State Avenue on highway 160 in downtown Alamosa.

Local Alamosa Colorado Attractions

• Didn’t think you could build sandcastles in Colorado? Think again. North America’s highest sand dunes flank some of the continent’s highest mountain peaks in the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve . It’s just a 45-minute drive from downtown Alamosa. More than 30 square miles of dune fields stretch across the landscape, offering visitors one of the most unique playgrounds found anywhere.

• Perhaps surprisingly, the unique desert ecosystem and lakes of the San Luis State Park and Wildlife Area , located west of the Great Sand Dunes, attract a multitude of water fowl. Perfect for viewing wildlife, the Park also features boating, fishing, sailing, swimming, and windsurfing. The campground includes electrical hookups, sheltered tables, and fire grills.

• Visit the Medano-Zapata Ranch , a Nature Conservancy preserve, where the bison herd and free range elk coexist. The Ranch is a large bison preserve featuring gasslands and wetlands on the west side of the Great Sand Dunes. Workshops are available spring through fall. The 100,000-acre preserve is the largest in Colorado.

• The Rio Grande National Forest is 1.86 million acres and remains one of the true undiscovered jewels of Colorado. The Continental Divide runs for 236 miles along most of the western border of the Forest. The Forest presents myriad ecosystems; from 7600-ft alpine desert to over 14,300-ft in the majestic Sangre de Cristo Wilderness on the eastern side.

• Don’t forget to Investigate the San Luis Valley’s Wildlife Refuges . Two well-established refuges, The Alamosa and Monte Vista refuges, are havens for migratory birds and other wildlife. In 2000, Congress authorized the establishment of the Baca National Wildlife Refuge north of the Great Sand Dunes.

• Colorado’s newest scenic railroad, The Rio Grande Scenic Railroad, departs Alamosa daily, including memorable weekend steam-powered excursions, whisking passengers deep into a Colorado most have never experienced.

• Step back in time to the 1800s on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad’s historic steam-powered train from Antonito to Chama, New Mexico and back, with a lunch stop in beautiful Osier, Colorado that includes a delicious, hot meal and homemade dessert from the renowned Osier Kitchen.

• Los Caminos Antiguos Scenic Byway Translated, the name means “the ancient roads” – aptly named for its tour through 16th century Spanish territorial expansion at its northernmost boundary. The route winds along the Upper Rio Grande region through some of Colorado’s oldest towns, surrounded by panoramic views in all directions.

• Silver Thread The San Luis Valley’s western edge leads up and out of the valley by way of the dramatic San Juan range, and its roads twist and wind through the high country along the lake fork of the Gunnison and Rio Grande rivers. This byway was once used as a stage road for miners and takes drivers past historic mining camps and the quaint but authentic towns of South Fork and Creede. This highway connects the Valley, by way of Lake City, to Gunnison County to the Northwest.
• Highway of Legends Just beyond the valley’s southeastern border lies a winding mountain highway that takes visitors past some of Colorado’s most geologically unique landscape and some of the state’s most fascinating historic outposts.

• Visit Colorado’s only hotel Waterpark at the Inn of the Rio Grande . The Waterpark features three pools: a splash pool, a recreation pool, and a kiddie pool. This state of the art facility offers a 155 foot long giant water slide. There is also a kiddie frog slide for the little ones. There is water basket ball and volley ball available, and all your favorite snacks are available in the snack bar. Open year round!

• There are over 400 Alligators soaking in our natural hotspring waters at the Colorado Gator Farm . Originally brought to the valley to act as garbage disposals for the tilapia fish farm. This is the most unusual attraction in the San Luis Valley!

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