A reader left a comment the other day about how they love Colorado but said it’s too cold to live there. That comment was the inspiration for this blog post, which is about finding relatively warm areas in a cold climate.
There are areas in southern and western CO that are much warmer than most parts of the state. One tip for locating warmer areas in cold climates is to search online for solar maps (ex: solar map Colorado), etc. Different maps show different results, so look at several. The Walsenburg/Spanish Peaks region down to the NM border gets lots of bright sunshiny days per year and therefore has a milder climate. This area has a lot of beautiful, rugged juniper and pinon covered canyonlands with deer and antelope. This is a great place if you like hiking and exploring for prehistoric artifacts and cliff shelters where ancient tribes once lived. Large cattle ranches in the area go for millions $ of course, but there are also smaller lots available.
Note, I don’t recommend buying land in extremely remote areas because of the dangers involved. Sometimes this area has extremely harsh freak snowstorms and flash floods. If you’re in a remote area like this you could be stuck there for quite a while, especially if a road gets washed out, etc. What would happen if your vehicle broke down 50 miles from ‘nowhere’ and you’re out of cell phone range?
There are also some fruit growing regions on the western slope of Colorado such as Delta, Fruita, Grand Junction, and Palisade — “the peach growing capital of the state”. Look for apple, peach and grape growing areas and you’ll know the area is milder than most of Colorado. There are also protected pockets or microclimates such as Canyon City that are warm enough for fruit production, but always investigate the area you’re considering carefully. In this case, Canyon City is now based on a prison economy and is a big turn off for many.
Walsenburg image: Ranch Flip.com
Delta County image: Delta County Living
This website has listings of organic farms and certified naturally grown produce in the area.
Careful going south from Walsenburg. About 20 miles south of there, oil companies drilled the hell out of that area; oil wells everywhere. Having lived in CO for many years, I think the lack of water can be a problem for gardening and livestock, and our growing seasons are relatively short due to the state having the highest average elevation among the states. High elevations mean big differences between daily highs and lows. I love this state, but it’s not a gardening paradise like, e.g., Oregon.
Thanks for the drilling info. Haven’t been there in about 15-20 years. In Colorado a greenhouse and/or cold frames are pretty much required since late and early sudden frosts are common.