Rio Grande National Forest covers 1.86 million acres in southwestern Colorado, spanning the San Luis Valley, high desert, and surrounding mountain country along much of the Continental Divide. The Rio Grande rises within the forest, making it an important part of the river’s headwaters region. Its broad landscape includes portions of four federally designated wilderness areas—La Garita, Sangre de Cristo, South San Juan, and Weminuche—with the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness also extending into Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. Administered from Del Norte, with district offices in Del Norte, La Jara, and Saguache, the forest stretches across parts of nine counties in south-central Colorado.