See Elk at Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado

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Elk are frequently seen from the park entrance road in early morning or evening during quieter months. Originally more of a prairie animal, elk have largely been pushed into the mountains by land development and hunting pressure. Great Sand Dunes National Park protects a huge portion of natural grasslands where thousands of elk thrive year round. Elk prefer open grasslands, avoiding forests when possible. In the San Luis Valley, they may seasonally migrate up into montane meadows or alpine tundra, but some herds stay on the valley floor year-round. In the western U.S., a combination of encroachment on grassland habitat via development, and maturing closed-canopy forests has had an effect on their distribution. There are estimated to be over 4000 elk in the eastern part of the San Luis Valley.

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