Colorado State Highway 15

State Highway 15

SH 15 highlighted in red

Route information

Maintained by CDOT

Length

22.834 mi^[1] (36.748 km)

Major junctions

North end

US 160 / US 285 in Monte Vista

East end

US 285 / SH 17 near La Jara

Location

Country

United States

State

Colorado

Counties

Rio Grande, Conejos

Highway system

Colorado State Highway System

←

SH 14

→

SH 16

State Highway 15 in the U.S. state of Colorado is a north–south, then east–west, state highway in the San Luis Valley region of Southern Colorado. It connects the two towns of Monte Vista and La Jara. There is a gap in the route.

Route description

SH 15 begins at a concurrency between US 285 and US 160. After heading south for about 12 miles (19 km), at the Rio Grande-Conejos county line, there exists an 8-mile (13 km) gap^[1] filled in by Conejos County Route 6.^[2] After the gap, SH 15 reappears in Centro and heads east to pass through Capulin, cross over the La Jara Creek, and end at US 285, north of La Jara.

History

The route was established in the 1920s as a much longer route, but it was gradually cut down to its current length. The route was paved in 1957.^[2]

Major intersections

County	Location	mi^[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Rio Grande	Monte Vista	0.000	0.000	US 160 (1st Street) / US 285	Northern terminus; highway continues as US 285 north (Broadway north)
Rio Grande		10.41	16.75	SH 370 east
Rio Grande–Conejos county line		12.37	19.91	CR 12S	End state maintenance
Road 6 continues south
Conejos	Centro	20.39	32.81	FH 255	Begin state maintenance
		26.56	42.74	SH 371 – Carmel Dist.
		30.915	49.753	US 285 (SH 17) – Alamosa, La Jara, Antonito	Eastern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi