Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge

In the heart of the arid San Luis Valley is a birdwatchers paradise. Lush wetlands provide year-round habitat for songbirds, water birds, coyotes, deer and other wildlife. Starting in 1952 a series of water works were created at the MVNWR to restore some of the wetlands that were common throughout the Valley when it was first settled. In March and September, twenty thousand migrating Sandhill Cranes use the refuge as a major stopping point. This migration is one of the Valley's greatest spectacles and is celebrated every spring in early March at the Monte Vista Crane Festival.