Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge, National wildlife refuge in Rio Grande County, Colorado.

Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge is a 1953-established refuge in the San Luis Valley, southern Colorado, where water is intensively managed through dikes, artesian wells, pumped wells and irrigation canals, some dating to the 1880s ditch boom. This creates a patchwork of shallow wet meadows and open water. The refuge sits at about 2,321 metres elevation, roughly 11 km north of Monte Vista town.

The refuge was founded in 1953 to protect migratory birds traveling along one of North America's major migration routes. Later development added water management systems to improve habitats for visiting and resident bird populations.

The refuge's irrigation canals and dikes, some dating to the 1880s "ditch boom", are still visible across the wetlands. Water is pumped and drawn from artesian wells to flood fields for the cranes, and the San Luis Valley's farming past shaped this managed marsh.

Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge lies south of the town of Monte Vista in Rio Grande County, about 11 km from the town, at roughly 2,321 m elevation. A driving route and walking paths lead to designated observation spots. Up to 20,000 greater sandhill cranes pass through in spring and again in autumn, so time a visit to those migrations.

The refuge uses artesian wells and historic irrigation canals to create artificial wetlands in an otherwise arid high-altitude desert. This engineered water system allows more than 200 bird species to thrive in what would otherwise be unsuitable habitat.