Crestone, CO

Crestone is a statutory town in Saguache County, Colorado. The 2020 census counted 141 residents. Crestone is located at the foot of the western slope of the Sangre de Cristo Range, in the northern part of the San Luis Valley. Crestone was platted in 1880 by George Adams, owner of the neighboring Luis Maria Baca Grant No. 4. That mix gives Crestone a clear local shape within Colorado, with older layers still visible in current places. The local scoop is a place whose streets, landmarks, and institutions keep its earlier story close to the present.

ATTRFred Bauder / CC BY-SA 3.0

In the 1970s, the Baca Grande land development was established on the lands of the Baca Grant to the south and west. The first settlement in the Crestone area occurred after the American Civil War with the granting of the Luis Maria Baca Grant No. 4 in 1860 to the heirs of the original Baca Grant at Las Vegas, New Mexico. Crestone is located near the 38th parallel, in the San Luis Valley in south-central Colorado.