Researching CO. Looking for friendly, somewhat rural forested living.

[lrmsd]

Originally Posted by Snikt

The mountains here are a little different than out east, there are plenty of areas like you described absolutely in the middle of nowhere, much more so than anything you can find east of the Mississippi. The problem is some of those areas are very barren and not forested at all, or are so rugged you wouldn't be able to buy a usable lot.

Example: The San Luis Valley, very cheap, very remote but not a single tree. Very barren




There are also lots of areas like this which are small towns, and you could probably find something in the price range but your lot wouldn't be forested at all. You'd be near mountains and forests though:

Great pics! I was just replying to describe this to the OP, but yea, pics do it way better. People think CO is all mountains and trees...

[Doc_Jim]

A picture is worth a thousand words......wow. Thanks for that. And correct....that is one barren desert! And not what we are looking for. Same with the town pic you sent.
There is certainly a chance that CO may not be the right state for us! However only due dilligence will reveal this.

These are a few listings I found on trulia that (from the pictures) look interesting...however there could easily be reasons why this area is not as it appears:


588 Sierra Circle, Durango CO - Trulia

350 Lake View Drive, Bayfield CO - Trulia



EDIT: Thanks IRMSD! Will check that our! And you are RIGHT...We DO think CO is covered in trees! Completely and totally. That Valley pic above looks like its out of NM! Who knew!

Crestone....interesting: http://www.trulia.com/property/10842...liffe-CO-81252

[Snikt]

Originally Posted by Doc_Jim

A picture is worth a thousand words......wow. Thanks for that. And correct....that is one barren desert! And not what we are looking for. Same with the town pic you sent.
There is certainly a chance that CO may not be the right state for us! However only due dilligence will reveal this.

These are a few listings I found on trulia that (from the pictures) look interesting...however there could easily be reasons why this area is not as it appears:


588 Sierra Circle, Durango CO - Trulia

350 Lake View Drive, Bayfield CO - Trulia



EDIT: Thanks IRMSD! Will check that our! And you are RIGHT...We DO think CO is covered in trees! Completely and totally. That Valley pic above looks like its out of NM! Who knew!

Couple more from Colorado

Utah like Canyons


Lots of towns in valleys, not forested but near mountains



We even have some sand dunes




Then you have your gorgeous, picturesque areas that everyone wants, but you can barely buy a home in some of these areas for $1,000,000

[Doc_Jim]

wow. I really had no idea that CO was this diverse...at all. Poor CO is truly stereotyped as one massive evergreen covered state.....

Great pictures!

[Idunn]

Mountain real estate in Colorado can be relatively inexpensive, but always for a reason. The biggest factor will generally be in its accessibility to services and preferred areas (i.e. resort areas; and, related, in distance from the Front Range).

In example, most of Summit County is expensive due its proximity to some of the better ski areas in Colorado; as well, but 1.5 hours from Denver. Telluride and Aspen are remote, but preferred areas unto themselves with a wealthy clientele, so expensive, as is the surrounding regions at any distance.

One town you might try is Chromo. It sports a US post office and not much else. Other than a lot of beautiful mountain, forested, scenery. It resides south of Pagosa Springs, over a divide and via at times narrow canyon, near the New Mexico border. South of there at some distance are either Dulce or Chama, NM, both being remote small towns in their own right. In other words, fairly isolated. Thus part of the potential attraction and, without myself exactly knowing, also possibly a few acres for not all that much. Internet, particularly of any speed, would likely have to be via satellite.

Look at the map, photos, then consider similar areas. They can be forested and beautiful, if often sharing the same traits.


PS. Insure there are adequate legal water rights with the property. More than a few 'bargain' properties are such due lack of such access.

[Doc_Jim]

Thanks Idunn and everyone. A lot of good info and more than a few starting places for me to start researching.
Much appreciated.

[davebarnes]

You also need to understand how much of Colorado is owned by the US government.
A lot.

[vfrpilot]

Check out Woodland Park. It's a small mountain town 20 minutes west of Colorado Springs. Not sure about your budget, but there are a lot of options up there. You might also check out Palmer Lake and Larkspur. They are up against the mountains, west of I-25, and within commuting distance to both Colorado Springs and Denver.

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by Doc_Jim

wow. I really had no idea that CO was this diverse...at all. Poor CO is truly stereotyped as one massive evergreen covered state.....

Great pictures!

Get this right: Colorado is a semi-arid to arid state. Even the highest mountain areas typically get less than 30" of total precipitation. The driest areas in the San Luis Valley and lower western valleys of Colorado get less than 8" of precipitation PER YEAR. That's in normal years. Some years those dry areas have seen less than 4" for the whole year.

Go to Travel Weather Averages (Weatherbase) and look up the precipitation averages for various locales in Colorado to see what I mean. Also, go read the thread here "Colorado and the West is running out of water." All of it. You'll get some idea of the huge water problems this region confronts.

Winter in Colorado can be relatively mild or vicious--often just a few miles apart. Same with summer. My personal temperature range in Colorado goes from a summer high of 108° F. down to winter low -55° F. Yes, that is a minus in front of the 55. By the way, the two towns where I experienced that personal high and low are less than 100 miles apart. I've related in the past where I made a January flight from Denver to Gunnison (less then 45 minutes). It was 60° F. when I left Denver and 20 below zero when I landed in Gunnison. They are less than 200 air miles apart.

Of course, these days--thanks in part to years of warmer than normal winter temperatures and below normal precipitation, millions of acres of Colorado's forests are now dead or dying from pine beetle infestations. Go look at the recent GoogleEarth satellite maps and you can actually see the brown forest areas.

If you want heavily forested type places to live in the Western US, the best places are the coastal areas and mountains of Oregon and Washington. Once you're inland from the coastal ranges and the Cascades, you're pretty much in arid and semi-arid country until you get east of the 100th Meridian.

[Arrby]

Originally Posted by vfrpilot

Check out Woodland Park. It's a small mountain town 20 minutes west of Colorado Springs. Not sure about your budget, but there are a lot of options up there. You might also check out Palmer Lake and Larkspur. They are up against the mountains, west of I-25, and within commuting distance to both Colorado Springs and Denver.

On an optimistic note, I think it is possible, maybe even likely, that somewhere in Colorado is what you are seeking. But people are trying nicely to tell you that you could make a very major and expensive mistake if you do not investigate thoroughly any prospective location.

I live in Teller Co., so when I saw this post I too thought of the Woodland Park area. For even more heavily forested living look north of Woodland Park up through Deckers and over toward Sedalia. I should have thought of Palmer Lake - definite possibility.

Re: Trulia links. I am very familiar with that area. Prices in the hills north and east of Durango are definitely depressed over just a few years ago and may offer an opportunity - or not. The drought has been very hard on the lakes in that area. It is more established than many areas around the state, but a lot of the houses all over those hills are seasonally occupied (your first link would be unaffordable to heat in the winter), and/or used as vacation rentals. I mention this because this is a factor in whether or not you will find the sense of community you seek.

Most of us up in the mountains are acutely aware that we are just one fire away from living in a burnt out area that will not be reforested for decades. Or even not living here at all anymore. It is a risk - a real one.

Small towns out here are quite different than what you are used to. A town of 1200 people here will typically have only a few families who have been there more than a single generation. People come and go more out here. Kids grow up and HAVE to leave because there is no reasonable commute to a job and WANT to leave because they are bored stiff with living out in the boondocks.

My suggestion is to take advantage of the many hundreds of vacation rentals available and spend some time in some areas that appeal to you.