Where would you build a Cabin in Colorado? (Denver, Pueblo: for sale, real estate)

[Dizzydog]

If you wanted:

1. To be no more than 30 mins from a decent sized town that has at least a handful of restaurants.

2. Just plan to be there May-Sept

3. Like to Fish, Quad and Ride horses all summer

4. Have about $80k to spend on land.

5. Like Wooded areas, not necessarily all open plains.

[Josseppie]

I would say Salida, altough there are a lot of great choices......

[jazzlover]

Nowhere. They are a scourge on the landscape--especially the fancy ones people expect now.

[cowboyxjon]

Are you sure it's the most cost effective solution? It might be cheaper and easier to just rent a place every year instead of buying land and building a home that will be used for only a few months out of the year. Just a thought.

Anyway, if I had the money and didn't have to worry about finding a job, I would want to live somewhere near Durango.

[CosmicWizard]

Rather than adding to the scourge, consider purchasing an existing cabin. With real estate values declining, you may be able to find a great deal. I have seen cabins for sale on the Grand Mesa that seemed very reasonably priced, but they are not the gaudy McMansion type. With more than 200 lakes on the heavily forested Grand Mesa, you'd have many options for fishing. The small city of Grand Junction is 45-60 minutes away, and very samll town of Cedaredge is slightly closer.

[movementarian]

Buy a used RV or a giant fifth wheel instead. Then just experiment with some locations in the state to see what you like best. You can find something as populated or remote as you like. If you get sick of the area you can just move it to another region and you won't be a scourge on the landscape. And you can use it October onward to tailgate at football games, go to Mexico or something.

[miramera]

I'd rent a cabin on the Frying Pan Road, outside Basalt, Colorado.

[treedonkey]

Ditto on the not tearing uo undeveloped land to build a brand new 'cabin' just to play in. There are some nice little existing cabins to be had around Beulah, east of Pueblo... which would be less expensive that being close to Denver, Springs or the resort areas. Also, you'll have better access to lesser-used rec areas.

[Dizzydog]

Whats the deal with the Scourge thing? I dont see what a 800ft cabin is going to do to harm 20 acres of land.

[Mike from back east]

DizzyDog, great name, we've all been there a few times ourselves...

Recently we had a thread in here where a chap from NC wanted to come here and live in the mountains, who could blame him for that. He only wanted to be here part time, and he wanted to hike all over the state. We pointed out to him that he'd better off renting a place in a different part of the state each year, since hiking the same old trails would get old soon enough. You could do the things you like all over the mountains without being an owner; there are stables, ATV and jeep rentals, resorts/hotels/motels of every stripe all over the mountain areas.

My wife always try to patronize the locals up there who are in those businesses full time; we get great experiences from people who really know the area and know what they're doing, we keep our capital in our accounts, and we live debt free.

The comment given about an RV would provide a lot of the flexibility you'd like to have, and be useful for winter trips to Florida too.

One of my favorite places is up near Grand Lake, The Winding River Resort where you rent a cabin or camp in an RV, on the headwaters of the COLO River, right on the Rocky Mtn Nat Park. You can bring your own horses and stable them there, or rent their horses. You can live in an RV or you may rent one of their little cabins.

Even if you buy or build a place, it may be worth doing the rental scheme for a few years to find out what area you really like best. There are so many areas to choose from. The suggestion for Durango is excellent.