Where to buy land for horses in CO (Denver, Colorado Springs: house, travel)

[Catherine D]

my husband and i are looking to purchase some land in CO (around 30 to 40 acres). we have been looking at the greater Fort Collins, Loveland area or Colorado Springs, even Grand Junction. Weather is important to us. We live in MI now and want more sun and milder temps. My father in-law lives in Aspen. it's beautiful, but the winters are too long. We bought a lot in Carbondale and then sold it 2 years later with a nice profit. We are thinking of building and moving in 6 years when our youngest goes to college. We will be heading out the first week in March to look at some ranches in Fort Collins. We also want to know that good health care is near by and some access to shopping etc. any opinions?

[McGowdog]

Hatchet Ranch has or had 35-40 acre plots south of Pueblo and just north of Colorado City. I believe they run about $39,500 per 35 acres. This may be old news as those plots may have changed in recent years. You may have to put a "1" in front of those figures now. I just see the old sign everyday going to and from work. [cut]

Hope this was helpful.

[sunsprit]

If you don't like Colorado winters, then anywhere in the mountains will be "too long" for you.

Even Fort Collins and other areas next to the mountains will have winter seasons that can extend from October to April.

Keep in mind that most of Colorado is at high altitude and is a colder climate, including the Eastern plains areas.

Fort Collins does have an excellent hospital and medical community.

You didn't mention a price range you're seeking for your horse property ....

[Catherine D]

I guess I'm looking at growing season. i saw that grand junction as 191 days to their growing season, while Aspen only as 73. Fort Collins has 150 very much like here in MI. Grand Junction is VERY long! I'm wondering if that means the summers are really hot. MI is so humid that it makes the winters very cold and summers very hot. I just want milder seasons. For instance I read that Gunnison is the coldest and dryest town in the lower 48, with an avg. of 37 degrees for the year. I don't want to live there. Being we like to ride horses??? Weather plays a role. We do ski and enjoy the winter also. I just want dry sunshine, not the fierce winters I've lived with all my life in the midwest (I grew up in Chicago).

We are looking at an early retirement. My husband and I are 47.

We are willing to spend between $250-$300,000 for the property (vacant land). We would build when we moved in about 6 years.

I really appreciate all the help we can get!

thanks for your replys!

[tfox]

There are a number of equine properties to the north of Fort Collins. About 3-4 miles north of town, there's an intersection called "The Y", where north College forks off to the two sides of Terry Lake: one way to Wellington and the other toward Laporte. There's a large amount of equine properties in both directions there and lots of rural lifestyles. For Colorado, that area also has a large number of lakes. Once you get about 10-15 miles north of Fort Collins land prices go down quite a bit, so you might want to check it out.

[sunsprit]

30-40 raw acres in the North side of Fort Collins and up through to Red Feather Lakes, which has many nice equine areas, is not very likely in your price range. There's been a lot of development there with "prairie palaces" and showplace equine properties, or larger recreational properties ....

We looked extensively throughout that area in 1998-9 for an equine property/ranch on about 5-10 acres, and didn't find anything that inexpensive unless we went directly North from Fort Collins about 25 miles into a very barren stretch of prairie ground. The main difficulty there is lack of water .... and a brutually exposed area to strong winds and severe winter storms. It's all brown and there's almost no trees, even around the seasonal creeks ... which sometimes wash out the roads in the area.

I recall some folks selling a modest 4/2 house with a 2 car garage and small outbuildings on 5 acres for over $300,000 about 2 years ago in that North area. Their big view was the nearby powerplant and a glimpse of the foothills. The house needed extensive remodeling/updating, carpet, paint, exterior paint, a new kitchen, plumbing fixtures, garage doors replaced ... the recently constructed barn was in better shape than the house.

I don't intend to discourage you from the Fort Collins area, but I believe your budget is unrealistic for what you're seeking. From a land and climate standpoint, I think you'll do better to look South of Grand Junction on the Western Slope areas of Colorado, or further South into the Northern Mountain areas of AZ or NM where the winters are milder and the altitude is still high enough to moderate the summertime high temps ....

[CareFreeAZ]

Catherine D:

Definitely stick with Colorado instead of the Northern mountain Area's of Arizona. Prices have skyrocketed throughout the high country of Arizona. Most likely 1-5 acres of raw land would exceed $300,000. Colorado is a much better bargain

[I_LUVNM]

Originally Posted by Catherine D

my husband and i are looking to purchase some land in CO (around 30 to 40 acres). we have been looking at the greater Fort Collins, Loveland area or Colorado Springs, even Grand Junction. Weather is important to us. We live in MI now and want more sun and milder temps. My father in-law lives in Aspen. it's beautiful, but the winters are too long. We bought a lot in Carbondale and then sold it 2 years later with a nice profit. We are thinking of building and moving in 6 years when our youngest goes to college. We will be heading out the first week in March to look at some ranches in Fort Collins. We also want to know that good health care is near by and some access to shopping etc. any opinions?

Grand Junction has a much longer growing season but is mostly desert like Utah. I think that is where Ricky Schroder kid actor now rancher, lives there. Another place with more horses than you can shake a stick at is Cortez. That place looks like straight out of the wild west complete with horses. Durango also has alot of horses in the area too.

[Catherine D]

Originally Posted by I_LUVNM

Grand Junction has a much longer growing season but is mostly desert like Utah. I think that is where Ricky Schroder kid actor now rancher, lives there. Another place with more horses than you can shake a stick at is Cortez. That place looks like straight out of the wild west complete with horses. Durango also has alot of horses in the area too.

Do you like Cortez? Maybe we should spend some time looking around the western slope. Do you know anything about health care over there, traveling to and from, access to shopping, etc? There is just so much to consider. My husband has lived all over the country and LOVES CO. So do I, but I've only lived in Chicago and a little town in southwest MI. Colorado seems like a dream. It's just hard to know the right place to move to when you haven't spent much time in a particular town?

Thanks for your input!

[Nadine]

I don't know if you are wanting an area that has irrigation for pasture or if you want prairie type without any good grazing. Colorado is semi-arrid, most places you will not grow much without irrigation. Many places advertised as good horse property don't think horses need to graze. Just buy hay, which of coarse is possible but expensive way to go. Irrigated acreage is more expensive. I also do not know what is your lifestyle as to the horses. Do you plan on good riding? Or showing or just backyard pets. I do not know as much about Northern Co. as I do southern area along the Arkansas River and it drainage, but I do know their winters are harder. Along the Rockies eastern side at 6000 ft or less, South of Colorado Springs. There are areas with good riding, good growing seasons and dry land or irrigated. If irrigated you need less land for horses. How many horses are you thinking of? I do not know a great deal about the western slope but I love the summers there along the Rockies. Colorado is getting chopped up and growing as I understand other states. Ranches are breaking up into small acreage. Some with irrigation, some of coarse without, and some with both. ---Health Care, is good, what the small don't have, Colorado Springs, Pueblo or even Denver. My grandson was flight to life to Colorado Spring to a burn center, that is only 45 miles away, then medevac(sp?) to Fort Sam Huston to military burn center. So we have available health care, one way or another.