Looking for a good Trail town to move to in Colorado.

[Terry7]

I have lived in Damascus Va. for 7 years. I want to move to Colorado after my hike this year. I was thinking that a trail town would understand my renting history, I hike the A.T. every year. I only rent through the winter.

[Mags]

Salida. Cool town near the CT/CDT. Decent size. With a ski area nearby (Monarch), winter rentals probably not unheard of.

Leadville may be similar.

[Ronnwell]

I have lived in Damascus Va. for 7 years. I want to move to Colorado after my hike this year. I was thinking that a trail town would understand my renting history, I hike the A.T. every year. I only rent through the winter.

In addition to Salida, Pagosa Springs is a great place to spend the winter.

With Pagosa, you have relatively cheap short-term rentals (compared to other CO mountain towns), Wolf Creek is an awesome little mountain that doesn't get too crowded, world-class hot springs, and of course, good local brews. Pagosa is definitely a hidden gem; it doesn't even have a Wal-Mart (yet).

[Hot Flash]

Any big college/university town is going to be used to a rent schedule like that.

[ocasey3]

Durango is an awesome town. I would live there. The La Platas, San Juans, and Mesa Verde NP are close. It also has Fort Lewis College.

[Paddlefoot]

Salida. Cool town near the CT/CDT. Decent size. With a ski area nearby (Monarch), winter rentals probably not unheard of.

Leadville may be similar.

+1 on that.

Take this with a large grain of salt, because my only experience with the towns along the trail was during last summer's hike, but I found Salida completely charming.

I spent nights in Salida, Durango, Lake City, Leadville, Silverton, and Breckenridge. And if I had to move to Colorado and leave my little paradise in the coulees of southwestern Wisconsin, those would be the order of my choices.

Salida certainly has tourist elements, but also seemed to have a genuine, stable community vibe as well. Good local food scene, which in my opinion, is always a good sign of community potential.

[SawnieRobertson]

For winters only? Steamboat or Winter Park. OR anywhere along the Front Range. I loved my 30 years at Estes Park, but it was less great once winter set in. An adventure though.

[Mags]

Any big college/university town is going to be used to a rent schedule like that.

Gunninson is not a "real" CT/CDT town, but because of Apple, more than few CT/CDTers go into this town that's a fair amount off the trail.

But, it is good sized, has lots of services and has a college. Not far from Crested Butte so, again, probably has winter rentals to serve the nearby ski area, too (in terms of seasonal staff)

EDIT: If you are not tied into trail towns only, other possibilities, too.

[Sly]

Pagosa Springs is awesome, and it's not far from Durango, Creede, and northern New Mexico. The hiking is superb/sublime.

Nean may still be out there and be able to help you find housing/employment.

[Terry7]

Thank all of you for your replies.

[dmath010]

I live in Northern NM and spend a lot of time in the San Juans. What beautiful country. I'd have to say I would prefer to be a year long resident in Durango (it has great amenities, awesome food, and a good crowd), however if I lived there I would do a large amount of my outdoor activities in Pagosa Springs.

Just for the winter, Pagosa Springs would be my choice. Quiet and serene with some of the best wilderness I've seen.

Hope that helps!

[teachergal]

I was out in CO this summer and loved Ouray and Frisco (near Breckenridge, but less touristy). I thought Summit County - Breckenridge, Frisco, Dillon, Silverthorne, Keystone) would be an awesome place to live! Plenty of skiing as well as summer stuff - bike paths, hiking, etc.. Ouray is a bit more off the beaten path but it's close-ish to Durango/Pagosa Springs. Telluride is close to Ouray, and it's a neat town but I thought it was a bit "yuppie".

[CarlZ993]

Salida. Cool town near the CT/CDT. Decent size. With a ski area nearby (Monarch), winter rentals probably not unheard of.

Leadville may be similar.

Cool place. great hiking & whitewater. A buddy of mine retired there.

[brian039]

Salida would be my choice. I lived there for a year and there's not a day that goes by that I don't miss it. Winter is very mild there compared to other interior Colorado locations. Lots of stuff to do there any time of year, awesome downtown scene, great people, Denver and Co Springs are only a 2 hr drive away or there is a daily bus that goes into Denver. Also, rent is super cheap. I paid $225/month to rent a room in a mobile home. If you don't have much stuff, many of the hotels in town rent out rooms pretty reasonably on a month to month basis.

[HeartFire]

I'd move to Salida too - GREAT place.

[map man]

When I retire, a mountain town in Colorado would be very tempting for me as a place to rent three or four months in the summer to be near great hiking and away from the Iowa heat, so this question interests me too. Others have commented on livability, so I thought I would research affordability by looking at median rents and home prices for these places at this very useful website:

http://www.city-data.com/

The couple places mentioned in this thread that stand out for affordability, with median rents under $800 and median home prices less than the Colorado average ($234,000), are:

Keystone, rent $650, home price $190,000, population 1,100
Salida, rent $680, home price $225,000, pop. 5,400

Some other places more expensive than this, but definitely less than some of the pricey ski resort towns:

Pagosa Springs, rent $790, home price $274,000, pop. 1,700
Silverton, rent $790, home price $245,000, pop. 500
Gunnison, rent $820, home price $216,000, pop. 5,900
Estes Park, rent $850, home price $337,000, pop. 6,000
Lake City, rent $880, home price $275,000, pop. 400
Leadville, rent $910, home price $175,000, pop. 2,700
Durango, rent $1,050, home price 363,000, pop. 16,600

Among towns mentioned in the thread, these are places that are really expensive (median rent over $1,500 or home price over $400,000, or both -- I will spare the gory details):

Telluride
Frisco
Breckenridge
Dillon
Ouray
Silverthorne
Steamboat Springs
Winter Park

Although with Steamboat Springs, Ouray and Winter Park the rents are not as crazy, it's just the home prices that are.

There are a trio of towns fairly close to each other that I want to mention, because they appear to be just as affordable as Damascus VA (the original poster's current residence), with similar rent and home prices. They are semi-mountain towns because they are not nestled in the mountains but are fairly short drives away from both the San Juans and Sangre de Cristos:

Del Norte, rent $550, home price $97,000, pop. 1,700
Monte Vista, rent $530, home price $96,000, pop. 4,400
Sagauche, rent $480, home price $125,000, pop. 500

Of course, numbers don't tell the whole story (I know nothing about livability for these places) and with prices this low you can guess that poverty is more prevalent than the mountain towns previously mentioned, but the median incomes in these places (though half the Colorado average) are similar to Damascus as well.

(by the way, all the figures mentioned above are fairly recent, from the year 2011)

[map man]

As an addition to my previous post, I want to mention the affordability of some other mountain towns (or semi mountain towns) that might be of interest, but have not been mentioned in the thread yet. First, a couple fairly affordable places:

Idaho Springs, rent $780, home price $170,000, pop. 1,700
Creede, rent ?, home price $188,000, pop. 400

Some places that are in between:

Montrose, rent $810, home price $185,000, pop. 18,400
Buena Vista, rent $860, home price $185,000, pop. 2,100
Rifle, rent $1,010, home price $256,000, pop. 9,300
Nederland, rent $1,050, home price $322,000, pop. 1,400
South Fork, rent $1,100, home price $203,000, pop. 500
Bayfield, rent $1,100, home price $255,000, pop. 2,100
Ridgway, rent $1,210, home price $372,000, pop. 800
Fairplay, rent $1,250, home price $195,000, pop. 700

And too rich for my blood:

Crested Butte (mostly home prices -- the rents aren't as horrible)
Eagle
Vail
Aspen

[brian039]

There are a trio of towns fairly close to each other that I want to mention, because they appear to be just as affordable as Damascus VA (the original poster's current residence), with similar rent and home prices. They are semi-mountain towns because they are not nestled in the mountains but are fairly short drives away from both the San Juans and Sangre de Cristos:

Del Norte, rent $550, home price $97,000, pop. 1,700
Monte Vista, rent $530, home price $96,000, pop. 4,400
Sagauche, rent $480, home price $125,000, pop. 500

Of course, numbers don't tell the whole story (I know nothing about livability for these places)

Regarding livability: Those towns are in the San Luis Valley which is a windswept wasteland. Very beautiful but no way I'd live there.

[Mags]

Saguache and Del Norte are two towns that have seen much better days. The only thing that really keeps Saguache going is that it is the county seat. The "downtown" area has some amazing older buildings from the early 1900s (or earlier)...most of which are boarded up. The town tried a beautification program and I am not sure it helped in terms of generating business. People pretty much pass by the town unless they are getting gas, attending the regional school or have court business.

Del Norte is marginally better.

Monte Vista is OK.

Montrose is in a pretty good location with lots of stuff nearby and is starting to see some growth. Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP is extremely close by. The town itself is nothing special, but, again, it is easy striking distance of so many good things. Skiing? Canyoneering? National parks? Big mountains? All within a half-day's drive or less. It does have a university and a nice little downtown area along with the usual mass big box stores seen anywhere else. So, livable with some a few cultural off-shots due to the university.

Bailey is half-way (roughly) between Durango and Pagosa. A friend of mine who teaches at Lewis College in Durango owns a house in Bayfield. More affordable on a tenure track professor's salary than Durango. I can't believe how much Bayfield has grown in the past five years.

[fiddlehead]

So many great options in CO.
The first 2 that come to my mind are Silverton and Leadville.
Perhaps because I've spent some time in both.
Touristy places yes, but surrounded by some of the best hiking and scenery in the states IMO.

I have good friends in Boulder, Golden and Durango so, I can't see anything wrong with any of these places too. (although Boulder is a bit too big, but has plenty nearby) Check out Nederland too.

What kind of people do you want to be around?
Nederland is more hippy types, Salida more ranch/cowboy types, Boulder more young athletic outdoors people, (OK generalizing for sure but these are my first impressions)

Too many good choices for sure.