About the San Luis Valley. The San Luis Valley is truly a spectacular vista, and mostly one of the few remaining places in the USA that remains both pristine and sparely populated.
But it also has a harsh climate at times, and some other disadvantages as you'll find below. In my opinion, it's a fantastic place to live both because of the beauty and seclusion, but many others will likely find otherwise. If everyone were as crazy as I, there would be a lot more people there. For those unfamiliar with southern Colorado (particularly the San Luis Valley), I should provide some background. You can get a lot of the basic details by reading the Wikipedia page and a nice little summary written by National Geographic, so I'll only give a list of what I think are the pertinent highlights here.
The San Luis Valley is in far south central Colorado and extends partially into New Mexico. But here's some of the pertinent information about living off grid there: Looking for info on the San Luis Valley area - AR15.Com Archive. Looking for info on the San Luis Valley area I'm thinking about heading up there to live (for awhile anyway) when I retire in about 18 months.
I was up there last Oct for a couple weeks (my sister lives in Monte Vista) and absolutely loved the area. I was wondering if any members that might currently live there, or had lived there before, could fill me in with some inside information on the area. The Good ,the Bad ,the Ugly? Tell me about it! Thanks! pTg Good duck hunting.
Windy as hell. I spent a weekend in Alamosa, for a DOW hunter education instructor seminar. Not a lot of entertainment in that area. My friend retired down there. building a cabin off the grid on the east side close to Fort Garland (San Luis) in Sangre De Cristo Ranches. I would recommend the west side, as you mentioned Monte Vista or maybe Del Norte or Southfork. East of Alamosa, no thanks. I am a deputy for and live in Saguache county. Homesteading the San Luis valley, co - Page 5. Quick Notes: Google search well drilling prices ($20 to $50 per foot 10/18/12) Plus fees, well head, etc as noted by others.
Note CO has new regulations on septic systems. Research. Native Rock and timber for "homestead" self building are (obviously?) Quite limited throughout the SLV. Know your specific water rights. 35 acres = 1 acre irrigation allowed seems to be a typical scenario in multiple counties. We (East Coast Family with relatives in the SLV) ABSOLUTELY LOVE the SLV, we feel the magnetic pull of living there EVERY day.
I imagine we will do it someday soon, but wow, I would not want to do it wrong. Just a few thoughts! Water Resources: Maps and GIS Data. 30m_US_Wind.jpg (JPEG Image, 1000 × 773 pixels) Map_pv_national_lo-res.jpg (JPEG Image, 792 × 612 pixels) Dry Land Water: San Luis Valley. FIGURE 5: San Luis and vara strips in the Culebra Creek Valley (Photo Taken: Sept. 29, 1999).
Figure 5 shows the town of San Luis, which is located near the upper edge of the aerial photograph. The photograph also shows the long, narrow irrigated fields in the Culebra Creek Valley and how they stand in contrast to the drier, non-irrigated land surrounding the valley. Land in the San Luis Valley of Colorado - The last of the Wild West. It has been said that there is somewhere around 40,000 subdivided and undeveloped lots in the Southern part of the San Luis Valley which typically range in size from 1/4 acre (which would require several to build on) to 5 acre parcels.
You can see a sample of the subdivision road patterns on this link to Google Maps - Mesita, Colorado in Costilla County. Much of the land belongs to absentee land owners who have invested in Colorado real estate, often being from out of state and having never even seen their property. Often with such investments, taxes do not get paid on a timely basis (even though they are very low in this area) and the land ends up reverting back to the county ownership. Besides the incredible bargains you can find from private individuals, the counties can be another good resource if you have time to do the research and make the correspondence. Colorado Water 2012.