Costilla Creek is a tributary of the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...

in Colorado and New Mexico.

Course

The creek rises in the

Sangre de Cristo Mountains ) , country= United States , subdivision1_type= States , subdivision1= , parent= Rocky Mountains , geology= , orogeny= , area_mi2= 17193 , range_coordinates= , length_mi= 242 , length_orientation= north-south , width_mi= 120 , w ...

in far southern Colorado at the confluence of East Fork Costilla Creek and West Fork Costilla Creek. It then flows southward across the border into New Mexico. Here it is impounded by the privately-held Costilla Reservoir on the

Vermejo Park Ranch Vermejo Park Ranch, Vermejo Ranch, or Vermejo, is a nature reserve and guest ranch in northeastern New Mexico and southern Colorado. Ted Turner Reserves, the luxury hospitality company founded by Ted Turner, includes conservation research and e ...

. From there, it flows generally southwest, receiving the waters of its tributary Comanche Creek at the north end of

Valle Vidal The Valle Vidal (Spanish, "Valley of Life") is a mountain basin in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains within the Carson National Forest, northwest of Cimarron, New Mexico. Elevations in the basin range from . Valle Vidal is noted for its pristi ...

. Costilla Creek then begins to curve towards the northwest towards a point where it meets

New Mexico State Road 196 State Road 196 (NM 196) is a state highway in the US state of New Mexico. NM 196's southern terminus is at Costilla Ski Basin, and the northern terminus is at NM 522 in Costilla. Major intersections See also * * Reference ...

. The creek then travels generally northwestward, following alongside State Road 196 through the small town of Amalia. It leaves the mountains after passing through a diversion dam — the beginning of the Acequia Madre irrigation ditch — and just before flowing through the town of Costilla, entering the broad, flat plain of the

Taos Plateau volcanic field The Taos Plateau volcanic field is an area of extensive volcanism in Taos County, New Mexico, United States. It is the largest volcanic field in the Rio Grande Rift, spreading over . The total erupted volume is estimated at . The age of most of ...

. Flowing north from Costilla, the creek enters Colorado at Garcia. It then flows in a broad semi-circle to the west, eventually flowing to the south, just west of

Jaroso, Colorado Jaroso is an unincorporated community and a U.S. Post Office located in Costilla County, Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of ...

and crossing the border, once again entering into New Mexico. Soon after crossing the border, the creek turns to the southwest and empties into the

, its mouth in a gorge just to the northwest of Ute Mountain.

Fishing

Popular with anglers, the creek offers fishing for

rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coasta ...

brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morph ...

, and

Rio Grande cutthroat trout The Rio Grande cutthroat trout (''Oncorhynchus clarki virginalis''), a member of the family Salmonidae, is found in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado in tributaries of the Rio Grande. It is one of 14 subspecies of cutthroat trout native ...

. The Rio Costilla is stocked on a regular basis with trout from spring to fall. The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish implemented the final phase of the Restoration of Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout (''Oncorhynchus clarki virginalis'') and the Native Fish Community to the Upper Rio Costilla Watershed project in March 2021, which should be complete by the fall of 2021. The removal of non-native fish such as non-native rainbow trout and non-native suckers through this initiative should provide high-quality angling opportunities for native trout and expand the range of interconnected populations of

cutthroat trout and other native fish, decreasing their likelihood of becoming threatened or endangered species.http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/download/fishing/rio-grande-cutthroat-trout/rio-costilla/Environmental-Assessment-Rio-Costilla-Project.pdf

References

{{Reflist Rivers of Taos County, New Mexico Rivers of Costilla County, Colorado Tributaries of the Rio Grande