outdoors year around? (Loveland, Sheridan, Estes Park: real estate, income, income tax)

[Brenda1024]

Hi I am looking to move from MN to Loveland, colorado. I want to have winters Dec- March where I can be outside riding horse, jogging, bike riding. i dont mind 40 degrees sunny. i dont want to be bundled up in carharts. When it snows does it stay or melt in a few days. I would be interested more in trail riding year around ,so any horse people feel free to give me your thoughts. How about boarding a horse is there allot of places, hows the price for pasture boarding? I am tired of the cold harsh winters here in MN.
I was there in Feb a few years ago and it was nice then is that common? Thanks

[StealthRabbit]

I grew up on 70 acres out west of Loveland (near Big T)
We rode year-round. Sometimes you will have a Chinook wind in the winter and it will be over 60F. The sun almost always warms in the afternoons. The moisture is usually light, and not muddy as a result of thaw or heavy rain. The fall is fantastic with the smell of the leaves and crisp days, and great sunsets. We had a creek (Buckhorn), + an irrigation ditch and foothills too, it was excellent and we could irrigate for summer pasture and hay. We often spent the weekends at our 4H leader's 2000 acre ranch in Drake that had a 'high ranch'. My classmate had a HUGE cattle ranch and we rode there a lot (year-round). Occasional bear and mtn lion sightings to keep you alert. rarely a rattlesnake too.

There are lots of places to board, the closest and nice are on Carter Lake or Waterdale Drive (opposite direction, same road). You can hopefully still get up west of Pinewood Res. and ride to Waltonia and Estes Park over Pole Hill (how they did the 'rescue' during Big T Flood). But, I would also look for a place up the Buckhorn, near forest service land. It is nice to not have to trailer, and be gone for a week without being on the same trail. There are some great 'circle' loops that are fun in the fall when the elk are bugling. As the Buckhorn joins the Poudre, there are some really nice and cool places to ride. Lots of shade, (Not sure how the 'Beetle Kill' has affected that). For a really nice place to be, go to Encampment, WY, on up past Walden.

Option 2- You might consider WY a place to live, (no income tax!!) if you don't mind living remotely (I was at Encompment in June and named it "lilac capital of WY" Folks have their horses right in town!! and some lots are totally surrounded by HUGE Lilacs!! ALL COLORS !! . Some of my 4-H friends escaped there when Loveland became Californicated in the 70's. Saratoga is close by for warm springs swimming. The Snowy Range is superb and right there also. If horses are more important than suburbia, and you are healthy, and you want 'no-pressure-fishing' great canoeing.., I would head to the WY / CO border area near Walden to Saratoga and slightly east and west.

Option 3 would be Burgess Jct WY (between Sheridan and Lovell) Oh My.... beautiful + remote. for a more affordable town than Sheridan, go look at Powell, WY.

Whatever the case, get to these places to ride. We met up with a trail drive in late Sept when they were bringing the cattle out of the Bighorns. WOW, what a great way to use your horse!!, there were several 'recreational' riders who had come up from Colorado to help. We sat and had breakfast by a creek with them (since we were driving through), they were busy rounding up strays. My cutting horse would have been in 'hog-heaven'.

We lost our place during the real estate crash in the 70's, dad was hospitalized then, and for the next 30 yrs. But it was nice while it lasted.... Enjoy it while you can!

[Tom Emmerling]

Compared to MN our winters should be nice and mild for you, although we do have some rough ones now and again. There are a couple months where the snow can stick around for a long time, in fact I think it was last year where we had around 80-90 days of snow on the ground. We broke the record. I am not much for winter and I can tolerate them here compared to easter Colorado where I am from. They are much more mild.

Seems like there are many horse places around here. I had horses years ago but I can not tell you what the going rate for boarding is now. I do know a lady who has a small acreage on Douglas road that charges around 250 a month I believe.

[Brenda1024]

Hi Sounds like you had a great time living there. Sounds like my dream . It is nice hear you can ride year around. So Jan-Feb, you would say most of the time you could be out, that the snow is somewhat rare, We are going to drive there in Dec. to check it out more. I dont think WY, thinking it might be too cold and I dont see my Hubby going there. I like the thought of fishing, hearing elk and enjoying the outdoors. I talked to some folks from Loveland this summer here in MN they said the bark beetles have destroyed tons of forest that when you look out it looks all brown.If you think Loveland is to californicated what would you suggest lets say about 15-20 minutes from there that would be good horse country. I will research Wy just in case though. Funny about horses in town we went to tulirosa, NM in April looking around, they had horses in there yards right intown . I thought it was great, kinda funny too. I liked it there but thought maybe it would be to dry, even though highrolls mountain area is 10 minutes up the road for some mt. riding. This is close to Ruidoso NM which is huge on 1/4 horse racing. Coming from MN going to NM or the very south part of AZ North ,Nogales,Patagonia. Not seeing snow, being warm wouldnt be bad.I am going to check that part of Az in Nov, just to be sure. But I am thinking Loveland area could be it. I guess I just assumed being Colorado it was snowy like Mn, but now i am excited to check it out. Just the thought of not hibernating in the winter would be great ,Being able to go out and be active. I am sure I will think of more questions down the road. Thanks!!

[Brenda1024]

Hello, So When you say it sticks around what would you say the outside temp is an average, 10-15 degrees in the morning, does it get up to 45 during the day.I here its sunnier there. It is almost always cloudy here in the winter. I dont like being chilled to the bone ,when i go out and having to totally bundle up just to run to the store. So besides this winter with 80-90 days of winter/snow ,what has the other winters been like.So when you had horses did you trail ride or show? Being a horse nut. I would have to think the trail riding would be so very challengng in places. Do you fish or hunt ? What are some of the best reasons to live there in your opinion? I really have no complaints about MN, I have lived up north in the counrty, now live closer to the cities. Its great with the fisihng, parks,riding the 3 seasons are great, winter wasn't so bad when i was young. But now i cant take them. The people are good here. I find people here most helpful and very friendly folks. So I am looking to find a new place that i can enjoy myself with all my hobbies. Thanks,

[bproven]

Originally Posted by Brenda1024

Hello, So When you say it sticks around what would you say the outside temp is an average, 10-15 degrees in the morning, does it get up to 45 during the day.I here its sunnier there. It is almost always cloudy here in the winter. I dont like being chilled to the bone ,when i go out and having to totally bundle up just to run to the store. So besides this winter with 80-90 days of winter/snow ,what has the other winters been like.So when you had horses did you trail ride or show? Being a horse nut. I would have to think the trail riding would be so very challengng in places. Do you fish or hunt ? What are some of the best reasons to live there in your opinion? I really have no complaints about MN, I have lived up north in the counrty, now live closer to the cities. Its great with the fisihng, parks,riding the 3 seasons are great, winter wasn't so bad when i was young. But now i cant take them. The people are good here. I find people here most helpful and very friendly folks. So I am looking to find a new place that i can enjoy myself with all my hobbies. Thanks,

In general, winters IMO would be much milder than what you are used to. This is due to several things: more sunshine during the winter, temps during the day avg around 40, dry climate (less precip/less snow -also doesn't 'feel' as cold as a humid cold climate). I have been here for almost 3 years and have experienced the winter that Tom speaks of as well as what is considered a 'normal' (milder) winter. I am also from southern LA so just having a winter at all (what is snow ) was a change. From my perspective, the winters are not bad. From your posts it sounds like this area would be a good fit climate-wise if you are looking at other places that experience 4 seasons (and a real winter). Of course if you want year round outdoor fun you are better off in southern CA (or AZ) since winter is non-existent, but that is a whole other story. I will say this - one other place to consider may be North Carolina. Winters are not as harsh as north East coast and summers are a bit less humid/hot than the South. A relative recently moved from CO to NC and states that the weather is the best you will find outside of CA (where he grew up) or CO. You will need to get used to being in the south though - it is a different culture than anywhere in the US IMO

Of course you can always just drop by FC during the winter for a week or 2 and experience it first hand before you make the move

[supercar]

I have lived on Colorado for 11 years now and I would say only about 3 have been what I consider a real winter where snow stays on the ground more than a day or two at a time. I think anybody from Minnesota will be able to do outdoor activities year round.

I just checked average temperatures on weather.com and they say the average high for December is 44, Jan 42 and Feb 47. There can be cold snowy and/or cloudy days where you might not want to do anything outdoors, but if you dress for it and are active you can probably do something almost every day.

For example, a few years ago I had a cycling coach and he had me doing cross training in the winter. Some of this involved indoor weight training, but I went roller blading pretty much every week. Running or horse back riding should be easier, because you can deal with a little snow better than with roller blades. I also rode (cycling) at least some throughout the winter and this is also tough if the roads are snowy or wet and it is colder, because you generate a lot of wind. I could dress to where I could handle cycling down to about 40F.