Checking out a hilltop property near Westcliffe, CO

Main activity today, in a gloriously sunny day with temperatures in the 70s, was to see if Umarang, the URRV, was able to get up to a hilltop property, maneuver and come back down safely.  It's a pretty tight fit you see, and the listing realtor had his doubts about a 25 foot long RV fitting past the curves.

The property is part of the Bull-Domingo Ranch, a name which had caught my eye as you might imagine.  The name comes from the merger of the Johnny Bull and Domingo Mines located nearby.

The blue circle in the picture below shows the hill top in question, the current land owner had a driveway "roughed in", with two sort of flat spots to possibly build on.  The red circle was possible land to build on as well, but it turned out pretty sloping.  The build spots are on the lower of two hills; you can see the other hill already has a house built on it.

The area highlighted in yellow is the plat map, showing the property being sold.

picture source: acrevalue.com

I'd called the listing agent's realty office and was assured no problem with permission, and since its a 35 acre piece of vacant land (mostly all hill), it was OK for me to go onto the property and drive around.  The fact that I was driving a 25 foot long RV gave them some pause but no prohibition was issued after I checked.

I left the trailer, with Scarlett still tied onto it, at the DeWeese Reservoir campsite along with Yagi, the TW200 to hold the spot.  I drove just the URRV for this test.  The rough rocky condition of the roughed-in driveway and some steep portions had me wanting to make sure the URRV could make it up safely before further exploring the idea of acquiring this land.

As it turned it out, it was no big deal.  Uma, the URRV rode over the rough, rock strewn driveway, with no issues or clearance problems at the narrow points.  As expected, I did have to back up a bit at the major curve, in order for Uma to point in the right direction for the major curve leading to the top flat spot.

At the lower flat spot, which sports a small metal shed.

Here's where I had to back Uma up a bit towards the edge

so that I could point her nose into the turn.

The Big Curve leading to the upper flat spot

Once pointing correctly, it was short work to slowly drive up the remaining sloping portion and reach the upper flat spot.  A little more maneuvering on this sort of flat yet rocky area and Uma was all set:

On the upper build spot....roughly 1400 square feet of usable

space, the rest needs more rock removal work.

You can see what they meant by "roughed in" driveway

After pictures, it was time to make my way back down with Uma, again I had to back up at the big curve, in order to get the nose pointed back down the driveway correctly.  No big deal.

But what about the trailer you ask?  Well, if I end up purchasing this property, Uma would tow the trailer to the lower flat spot, I'd unhook the trailer there and move it out of the way towards the shed after unloading the Ural rig (see second pic).  Once free of the trailer, Uma would continue on up to the top parking/build spot.

OK, test ride up and down complete, associated maneuvering complete with no issues.  I hope to now check out the rest of the property though I doubt I'll walk all 35 acres since it's all up and downhill!  

More to follow.  What do you think?  The idea is basically to use this as a private campground and perhaps build on it in the future.  It's secluded and private, in a central location for trips within Colorado and points south in the winter.

As its above 9000 feet in altitude, the property will probably not be really great for camping during the Winter months, but then again, I'd probably be camping in warmer climes anyways.  It just kind of bothers me to have land unused you know?

As you might suspect, I'm not 100% certain I'm actually going to buy anything.  We'll see.

Here's some pics shot by the listing agent for their ad:

A view of part of the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range

A view of part of the Wet Mountain Valley

View of more of the Sangre de Cristo Range

The hill top in question, the URRV had been located right

at the very top.

UPDATE: October 20.

I'm back home since the 12th.  The hunt for land has been once again postponed.  The property above fit most of the parameters but one major one held off my decision.  Winters are more severe in the Westcliffe area as opposed to the Cañon City area.  That, and the fact that if I bought now, I'd face perhaps 5 months of cold where the land would not be optimal for camping.