San Luis, CO

San Luis is a statutory town that is the county seat of and the most populous town in Costilla County, Colorado, United States. The 2020 census counted 598 residents. Formerly known as San Luis de la Culebra, it is the oldest continuously occupied town in Colorado. San Luis is centuries younger than the pueblos and villages of northern New Mexico because Hispanic settlers were wary of venturing north of the 37th parallel north for fear of Ute and Comanche raids. A newcomer can read San Luis through the overlap of its older landmarks, surrounding geography, and current places.

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For a newcomer, San Luis comes into focus through those concrete links among its past, landscape, and current routines. Armed traders traveled the Old Spanish Trail through the area in the early 19th century. San Luis lies in the San Luis Valley. Colorado State Highway 159 leads north 15 miles to Fort Garland and U.S. Route 160, and south 18 miles to the New Mexico border.