The present invention discloses a method for laying measuring points for automatic tunnel monitoring by an intelligent total station, setting the location of the measuring station through the dimensional information of the tunnel to be monitored and the monitoring program, calculating the resolution spacing from the measuring station to different sections by using the automatic target recognition (ATR) resolution of the intelligent total station, and determining the location of the prisms at each section based on the above resolution spacing and the number of target prisms at each section to ensure that there is only one target prism within the same resolution spacing, while automatically avoiding the presence of pipelines, contact networks, tracks and other unsuitable locations to form the optimal laying program. There is only one target prism within the same resolution spacing, and at the same time automatically avoids the existence of pipelines, contact networks and tracks and other unsuitable locations for installing prisms, forming the optimal deployment scheme utilizing the laser pointing function of the intelligent total station to assist manual on-site installation of prisms by pointing according to the calculated target prism location. The present invention helps to eliminate the prism interference of intelligent total station in the automated monitoring of long and narrow tunnel space, and ensure the effectiveness of tunnel automated monitoring data.