Moving to Blanca, Costilla County. Please tell me about this area (Denver: rental, new house)

[Rainbow Demon]

Bring your coat and a WARM sleeping bag...and a wind break.

Does your land have access/a road to it? Many folks buy land down there only to find it's subdivided and the "services" exist only on paper/the PUD map. (Google Earth should give some insight as to what is/isn't there)

good luck

[debbie at bouontiful]

Originally Posted by robinlindseylindsey

Have purchased five acres of land and plan to visit land and camp first week of october, costillo county area close to mountains, any advice for short camp trip?

That will be a beautiful time to visit. I drive 160 then head south to Chama every October. Beautiful drive. I think you'll enjoy your camp out for sure.

[ARID LAND]

We own 10 acres at the foot of Mt Blanca. I think the San Luis Valley is paradise. Its a place of living simply. I have found all the locals really welcoming and everybody helps each other out. The neighbours also keep an eye on your place when you are not around. For me theres the right amount of community and the right amount of solitude and the right amount of space.
Im a landscape photographer so this is the perfect place for me.
One other thing i love about Blanca, no big corporate chain stores. Just locally owned businesses. I know when i eat at Lui.s diner my money goes to Lui and i love that.
Bring your pioneer spirit. This is not a place to try and re-create the city.

[BornintheSprings]

Originally Posted by ARID LAND

We own 10 acres at the foot of Mt Blanca. I think the San Luis Valley is paradise. Its a place of living simply. I have found all the locals really welcoming and everybody helps each other out. The neighbours also keep an eye on your place when you are not around. For me theres the right amount of community and the right amount of solitude and the right amount of space.
Im a landscape photographer so this is the perfect place for me.
One other thing i love about Blanca, no big corporate chain stores. Just locally owned businesses. I know when i eat at Lui.s diner my money goes to Lui and i love that.
Bring your pioneer spirit. This is not a place to try and re-create the city.

Theres no water though

[SLVrob]

Originally Posted by debbie at bouontiful

That will be a beautiful time to visit. I drive 160 then head south to Chama every October. Beautiful drive. I think you'll enjoy your camp out for sure.

i've been doing this and it was quite peaceful, one of my neighbors came by and was very friendly and chatted it up for probably an hour and got the whole scoop on all my neighbors (the few houses i see around the horizon). at first it was strange to see someone drive down the road (that no one else appears to live on) but after seconds i was glad he took the time to meet me.

[scc14]

any advice for camping in the second half of october? what is the weather like in october?

[abludragon]

If you guys want info on the land and stuff I live here and built a house off the grid

[TechMike]

Originally Posted by abludragon

If you guys want info on the land and stuff I live here and built a house off the grid

How do you feel about the proposed changes to land use regulations? https://www.cpr.org/news/story/costi...-over-how-live

[y2kdejesus]

Originally Posted by rajond

i have 5 acres off 12 mile road and 19th. halfway btwn Blanca and San Luis. 12 mile is a county road. i plan to 'pull my home' there for the summer months and pull it back to CA for the winter. i've been told about the winters, in the valley, by a local.
i also have a breakdown of costs for improvements. some are estimates, some are hard prices.
the local power company, Excel, gave me a hard price of $3750 to run power to my lot. maybe cause i'm a corner lot on the county road.
i've been told, by a local, that septic, if you do alot of it yourself, can run around $3500. that's for the hole, the tank and lines.
wells are estimated at 160' deep @ $40/foot. then, there's the pump and all the other things that you need. a 1000 ga tank will run around $500. maybe $8000? total.
my plan is to pull an rv on the land, put a tank in, have water delivered, and put a small septic in.
i am concerned about burgalaries also. as dad used to say, "locks only keep honest people out".
the local resident, that i have been talking with, raises llamas. interesting guy. and, he sells on ebay. he offers installation assistance for septic and solar. he runs his place on solar. nice guy. straight forward. i have his email if you're interested. i will ask him first.

Rajond if this guy you know there still does septic and solar assistanceinfo on building a cabin or putting in a manufactured home, mobile home, let me know his name, number etc. Down the road i might need his assistance. I have acreage north of highway 160 in blanca CO. Thanks

[y2kdejesus]

I agree with you arid land, I also own 5-10 acres north of hwy 160 and love visiting there. I currently live in Arizona but Im getting really less tolerable of this heat. I would like to put a small vacation getaway cabin there someday just talking something small 600 sq ft and get away from the summer months here. Have to find someone on the area that knows- can help with septic install, solar & wind turbine for power and would use a water tank.