| Monte Vista, Colorado | |
| Settlement Type: | Home rule municipality[1] |
| Official Name: | City of Monte Vista |
| Motto: | Experience the Full Monte |
| Pushpin Map: | USA |
| Pushpin Label Position: | right |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of the City of Monte Vista in the |
| Subdivision Name2: | Rio Grande County[2] |
| Subdivision Name3: | Monte Vista |
| Established Date2: | September 27, 1886[3] |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Footnotes: | [4] |
| Area Total Km2: | 6.87 |
| Area Land Km2: | 6.82 |
| Area Water Km2: | 0.05 |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 2.65 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 2.63 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 0.02 |
| Population Footnotes: | [5] |
| Population Total: | 4247 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | auto |
| Utc Offset: | -7 |
| Coordinates: | 37.5781°N -106.1431°W |
| Elevation Ft: | 7664 |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP codes[6] |
| Postal Code: | 81135 (PO Box), 81144 |
| Blank Info: | 08-51635 |
| Blank1 Name: | GNIS feature ID |
| Blank1 Info: | 2411143 |
The City of Monte Vista is the home rule municipality that is the most populous municipality in Rio Grande County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 4,247 at the 2020 Census.
Monte Vista was laid out in 1884. The site had previously served as a watering stop for the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad.[7] Monte Vista is the Spanish translation of "mountain view."[8]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2sqmi, of which, 1.9sqmi is land and 0.1sqmi (2.56%) is water.
Monte Vista is served by the Carnegie Public Library.
Every March, nearly 20,000 Sandhill Cranes descend on the San Luis Valley before continuing their northward spring migration.
Monte Vista has a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk).