bought this property (Denver, Colorado Springs, Buena Vista: real estate, crime, how much)

[kylissa]

Hey all, i purchased this piece of land in s park co. its got a killer view and is an hour from practically any civilization that i can see on a map. what do you think i should use it for? im going to be camping there a month in summer but i also was thinking of doing a unheated greenhouse for cold tolerant veggies such as cauliflower leeks and fennel. know anything about this secluded area?

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Wich...4!2d38.8338816

[sunsprit]

the area appears to be pretty desolate ... the mapping shows a number of roads cut in and the tracks of vehicles that have been over the area. I've passed this way many times on my travels to Fairplay or Buena Vista area ... via my C182 at 1,000' AGL ... and had many a fairly bumpy ride through this area due to the gusty winds. We stayed low enroute through here to avoid stronger headwinds aloft; the trade-off is a mildly bouncy ride vs loss of speed over the ground due to the headwinds.

what stands out is that there is virtually no natural vegetation and no trees, and for some distance around no structures.

you may find that your site is a very dry area that's quite windswept with intense gusts for many hours each year.

if you are using this site for "camping there a month in the summer", what would you do there other than have a place to camp out that's all your own? a base to camp at to travel to the regional attractions?

do you have any potable water or a well available at the site? electricity to the site? or will you just be dry camping, boondocking perhaps?

do you have any water rights to use and functional water for a greenhouse? and if you're only there for a "month in the summer", who is going to take care of watering the greenhouse plants ... if you have water available for that purpose? Who will be opening up and closing the greenhouse on a daily basis as needed to control the temperatures ... sunshine during the day will really heat up the place for months of the year, but you'll need to be closing it up during high winds and/or overnight low temps to conserve the heat in the soil for the plants. For the most part, I don't see any upside to even building such a structure if it can't be properly maintained.

IMO, there's not much to do in the immediate area ... which is one of the reasons why there's so little development there. Camp on the place if you wish in a summer month and enjoy the view, but that may be the most utility you'll get from it. For the most part, it's going to be a very dry and brown experience.

[Suzatlarge]

Originally Posted by kylissa

Hey all, i purchased this piece of land in s park co. its got a killer view and is an hour from practically any civilization that i can see on a map. what do you think i should use it for? im going to be camping there a month in summer but i also was thinking of doing a unheated greenhouse for cold tolerant veggies such as cauliflower leeks and fennel. know anything about this secluded area?

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Wich...4!2d38.8338816

Welcome to the Green Rush - people flocking to cheap land in rural Colorado to enjoy legal weed (and to grow it, not necessarily legally).

Are you sure that nobody's already squatting on your newly bought property?

Here's an article written last year in the aftermath of the shootings at the Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood location: Planned Parenthood gunman was a "marijuana newcomer" say rural neighbors - The Denver Post. The whacko gunman, Robert Dear, was living near Hartsel in an RV with makeshift adaptations for winter/long-term habitation. His crime spree brought media - and local government - attention to the influx of people into rural Park County. There are apparently a lot of other makeshift housing situations in that area besides Dear's.

I don't know how much Park County has cracked down on the illegal nonconforming uses and housing since that article was published. Sounded like they planned to do it.

As sunsprit says, you'll need water to grow anything and you haven't said how you'll get it there.

[Sunderpig2]

I agree above with the word "desolate". It looks bare, remote, and in the middle of nowhere. The lack of trees and vegetation is very telling. Dryness and potentially windswept conditions could be major issues. The temperatures should be quite extreme out there too. A greenhouse might not work as expected in those conditions. Maybe a new subdivision going in? If so, even with large lots of land, the openness would mean little privacy. You could see anything out there for miles.

[NW Crow]

Good idea if you are away a lot or almost always to have a neighbor that you know and trust to keep at least half an eye out for unauthorized visitors. That means getting to know a few, evaluating them and their mindfulness (can be help or possible threat if they- or people they talk to even casually about your place- stop and think that you are away a lot. may not want to disclose that early, often or fully), making them care about you aided by friendliness, doing something for them or at least being willing to. Folks may not watch a neighbor's place if they don"t know them and don't know if anyone else is authorized. Can be worth knowing / talking with the Sheriff too but they have a lot of / too many places they could look after. If you can't find a neighbor to freebie watch, there are usually options for paid real estate security checks if you look and ask around.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Kylissa, I wonder if your post should have read, "Hey all I purchased this piece of land sight unseen in Park County".

We spend our summers in Buena Vista, and do a lot of off-roading in the area. We'll be back next month and I'd be happy to drive around and take some pictures for you. Looks like some deserted dirt roads to explore!

I doubt that it's a "new subdivision" going in like Sunderpig2 brought up. There are a LOT of platted subdivisions in Park and Teller Counties that are just open, dry, nothingness. And, from looking at the aerial photos, I don't see any neighbors. So I don't think that NW Crow's suggestion will work.

I have to wonder, like someone said, whether this property even has any water rights.

[kylissa]

here is a link to the lot, Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site

but i didnt buy from there, i got quite a good deal for it. we are going to use it as a camping spot and go thru to buena vista to shop eat and swim at hot springs and alma is close ish, its not too dry and dead looking as a bit north toward the main rd. its not a priority to own water rights doesnt the fed govt own all bodies of water anyway? you can get water "trucked in" i hear for 30 dollars a month for our greenhouse plan but thats only if i want to build a home and stay there for about 6mo per year and other six mo would be at my farm in iowa. i dont like staying put at all and hate the super hot summers here. so this will hopefully be god chill summer spot. next land would be bought in arizona nearest to the zone 11 border. for winter life. See the plan? I can exchange the land for a piece in arizona or a few other states if i dont like it according to the sellers.

[NW Crow]

IMO, it looks like a campsite, at best. I'd be surprised if many or any of the nearby lots get built on. No sign of any in the area photos. Power line may be a fairly long to very long way away. Even if you only use in summer, the building will have to survive the full year of wind and snow. If you do build, make sure the structure is up to the task and then some. Looks from the photos like it is probably going to be off the grid for foreseeable future. But that is just a guess. I can't see beyond the horizon.

[NW Crow]

Looking further on the bigger area interactive map, I see a few structures at some distance, by edge of tree cover, probably at lower elevation. Can't tell how far due to limitations of view on my phone. Probably miles off but unclear how many.

Water rights seem very unlikely. Most of the water rights are held by front range urban governments and perhaps some ranchers. Water stored and released for them. Without legal water rights, you can't capture or use any.

[kylissa]

Originally Posted by NW Crow

IMO, it looks like a campsite, at best. I'd be surprised if many or any of the nearby lots get built on. No sign of any in the area photos. Power line may be a fairly long to very long way away. Even if you only use in summer, the building will have to survive the full year of wind and snow. If you do build, make sure the structure is up to the task and then some. Looks from the photos like it is probably going to be off the grid for foreseeable future. But that is just a guess. I can't see beyond the horizon.

thanks! dont need power we are off gridders already, in a storage container home with wood heating and wind power set up. the one wood heater heats both my house and greenhouse here.. storage container isnt allowed in Park co.
It would cost me about 45k according to a local builder estimate for finished inspectable shell home of 500sqft with roof windows doors and foundation included, not able to do that price though.