Thread: Talk to me a bout Colorado.....Canon City to be precise

My girlfriend's mother is trying to will her house over to us. Like soon. She seems to think this needs to be done in the near future regardless of her rather stable health.

My girlfriend is all over the idea. The house she has in Canon City is paid for, located in a low snow bannana belt kind of area (or so I'm told) and my girlfriend is trying to paint a picture of little to no monthly bills, minimum employment, dirtjumps in the large backyard and the same skiing and biking opportunities I have here. My only problem is that I REALLY like living in tahoe.

I've got endless backcountry skiing within a 5 mile drive any direction, a good crew of bike and ski friends who are motivated to build all the crazy trail features with me....and I'm about 5 minutes from northstar dh riding in the summer. There's GREAT spring skiing all around, our storms come in feet....etc etc....

Canon City seems like bum fuck nowhere to me but I've never been there. Sure monarch pass is close by but what great things about the area am I unaware of?

School me.

um, you have a never-ending supply of prisoners?

Originally Posted by Danno

um, you have a never-ending supply of prisoners?

Probably pretty dusty, too.

Heh......is there a state prison there?

I'll always have some conversation from hitchikers for long drives at least.

Originally Posted by kidwoo

Heh......is there a state prison there?

I'll always have some conversation from hitchikers for long drives at least.

state and federal, including a supermax prison: http://ludb.clui.org/ex/i/CO3142/

Sweet.


Okay now what about the biking and skiing?

I would not move to Canon City from Tahoe...

You'd be close to Salida and Pueblo. That is about it.

And like Danno said, lots of prisons.

There may be great trails there, it may not be a huge drive to go skiing, but few here will be able to enlighten you. And that's sort of the point; you'll have some difficulty, I suspect, finding like minded people around those parts. There's some good boating around there, I know that. But you won't find a scene like Tahoe, that's for sure.

Its got kick ass bungee jumping.

Definitely in bum fuck nowhere. That said, it is beautiful, and I can put you in touch with a great guy I used to work with who lives there. He was a big ski/climbing industry dude and wound up settling in Canon City...check your PMs.

besides the conjugal visits ill add that the only other good thing about Canon City is the Holy Cross Winery and this one B&B we stayed at. heh.
there's also a pretty amazing french restaurant there, Petit Chablis iirc.

its really kinda out in the middle of the place
good drive to ski, but id imagine there should be some good trails nearby given the terrain. If it werent for the prisons, Id think it might have good opportunity for a RE investment. Reminds me a bit of the Palisade area or maybe im just smoking crack.

Originally Posted by pechelman

besides the conjugal visits ill add that the only other good thing about Canon City is the Holy Cross Winery and this one B&B we stayed at. heh.
there's also a pretty amazing french restaurant there, Petit Chablis iirc.

its really kinda out in the middle of the place
good drive to ski, but id imagine there should be some good trails nearby given the terrain. If it werent for the prisons, Id think it might have good opportunity for a RE investment. Reminds me a bit of the Palisade area or maybe im just smoking crack.

Only like an hour or so from Monarch.

I realize that you're a sprockets guy, but posting this in a forum with more traffic, like ski/snowboard, would likely yield more info.

right
i just meant that in comparison to his 5mi commute to ski now, its a "good drive" from CC.

should have clarified a bit more, but you did, so thanks

Originally Posted by Danno

I realize that you're a sprockets guy, but posting this in a forum with more traffic, like ski/snowboard, would likely yield more info.

I respect you people more than tahoegnarwhateverthefuck etc.

This is my first resort. The main board is my last.

Hey woo.

Canon City isn't too far from the Springs - great riding there. Good winter riding in Pueblo from what I hear. There is world class riding near Salida (short drive up the canyon), good bc skiing up there as well.

However, it means you'll be driving to it all. I don't know of any rides in Canon City... there have to be a few.

But that being said, the Springs is about the only place with real shuttle rides nearby. You don't have quite the scene you can get out there where you are methinks.

Great climbing not too far from Canon City as well. Good Paddling along the Arkansas.

There is a decent Banana Belt thing going on there, but it isn't one of my favorites in the state. Good news is as far as places to live it isn't as far from Crested Butte/Silverton/Wolf Creek/Telluride/etc as Denver or Summit County.

You'll have to drive a ways to get to Keystone - which is still the best lift-accessed DH in the state (yeah yeah, Silverton is great, but it's open, what like 4 days a summer?).

Hope all the info from everyone helps...

Nice weather too, though it can get hot in the summer.

Contrary to what I normally post here, I'll go apeshit if there's not some good xc riding wherever I live for the rest of my life. I can live without the life threatening stuff to a degree. I think the biggest benefit would be having a good plot of land to build some good dirtjumps on.......and they would have to be good to keep myself from sobbing every night over where I live.

I'd be closer to utah, closer to my boyfriend flowtron.......but in life threatening situations on a regular basis skiing in the BC.

Monarch crest is one of my top 3 rides in the country so that's a little solace. Not a climber or a paddler though.

Thanks for the input guys. Keep it coming.

Originally Posted by kidwoo

Contrary to what I normally post here, I'll go apeshit if there's not some good xc riding wherever I live for the rest of my life. I can live without the life threatening stuff to a degree. I think the biggest benefit would be having a good plot of land to build some good dirtjumps on.......and they would have to be good to keep myself from sobbing every night over where I live.

I'd be closer to utah, closer to my boyfriend flowtron.......but in life threatening situations on a regular basis skiing in the BC.

Monarch crest is one of my top 3 rides in the country so that's a little solace. Not a climber or a paddler though.

Thanks for the input guys. Keep it coming.

Joe, watch your cornhole. As others have mentioned, we are not sure of the closeby xc riding. There is a great network of trails in Pueblo, which is roughly 40 miles to the east. We rode there a couple of weeks ago (search for my TR), there is good stuff there.

The rainbow trail will be reasonably close, but I can't verify its rideability far east of Salida (brettf?). Other than that, like brett said, you'd be reasonably close to the Springs which has good shuttles and xc riding, and you'd also be day tripable to Buff Creek (though it'd be a longer drive)

You'd also be very close to New Mexico and from what brett has said there is some sweet riding there.

Finally, as you can see, we have a good crew of folks here that like to ride together. We'll be nice.

I like Monarch Crest, but I don't even consider it one of the top 3 in Colorado!

Originally Posted by Danno

I like Monarch Crest, but I don't even consider it one of the top 3 in Colorado!

I'd agree with that! The ride down the west side on Agate is far superior to the Crest proper.

There's almost as masy prison guards as prisoners. But the prisoners get the nice new accomidations while the working class get mobile homes, shacks, modulars and some old homes. Lotta tourism related stuff, 'specially in summer, too.

It does seem to be growing like crazy lately tho. They have more new stop lights than any "small" town I can think of - impossable to get thru town quick.

I think the country "close" by is some of the best, and diversified, but what makes up the population (in and out of the bars) is kinda weird.

Also there is some kinda uranium waste dumping ground thing trying to be happening there.

edit to add: I'd think that the dirt scene would be great with all the dirt bikers and geography around there

Despite the prisons, I think the land will continue to appreciate at an acceptable level. Pueblo and Colo Springs are still growing I think. Good snow and mtb sports are not much less accessible than Denver. You'll be that much more likely to skip the i-70 traffic and resorts.
Not going to have much in the way of next door neighbors, but maybe you could someday get a small pad in Colo Springs for when you needed to get your city on.

Looks like you got it covered, but I see that move as a HUUUUUDGE downgrade in almost all aspects.