San Luis Valley

The San Luis Valley is a high-elevation basin in south-central Colorado, with a small portion extending into New Mexico, and is the largest alpine valley in the world at about 122 miles long and 74 miles wide. It runs from the Continental Divide on its northwest rim south into New Mexico, covering roughly 8,000 square miles of depositional basin at an average elevation of 7,664 feet. The valley forms part of the Rio Grande Rift and is drained by the Rio Grande, which rises in the San Juan Mountains to its west and flows south through it; despite a cold desert climate, the valley holds substantial water resources from the river and its groundwater. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/