With 250 days of sunny skies a year, this quiet, private parcel gives you million-dollar views of the spectacular Sangre de Cristo Mountains and several of its 10 fourteeners. The Sangre de Cristos (Spanish for Blood of Christ) are named for the brilliant colors of lavender, red & pink splashed on the peaks during sunset & sunrise.

Designated for residential, ranching, and farming use, the parcel’s terrain is home to abundant wildlife of mule deer, pronghorn antelope, eagles, bobcats, mountain lion, and bear. Waving grass meadows and wildflowers give way to groves of narrow-leaf cottonwoods, and forests of Ponderosa pine, Juniper, and Pinon. Two deep, wide gulches, including the historic Carolina Gulch, are fed by seasonal underground springs.

Despite the unparalleled privacy, this land is easily accessible from Colorado Hwy 96 via a 2-mile, well-maintained dirt/gravel road.

Electricity crosses both parcels on recently upgraded power lines and is available on the north parcel via two existing drops approximately 500 feet from likely building sites. One residentialwell allowance accompanies each building envelope.

The property lies on the western shoulder of the Wet Mountains, bordering the Wet Mountain Valley to the west. Westcliffe -- the county seat for Custer County -- supports thriving arts, theater and retail community. Custer County’s population in 2024 was 5,534, one of the least populated in Colorado.

The 121.43-acre property is divided into two legally defined parcels: a northern 81.42-acre parcel and a southern 40.01-acre parcel. The property is bordered by 640 acres of State Trust land to the north, more than 1,000 acres of conservation easement-protected private land to the east, and a tract of several thousand acres more to the west. The State Trust land is part of a system of public land held in a trust and used for public beneficiaries, in this case, support of Colorado public schools.

There are no HOA or HOA dues: covenants filed with the original Cottonwood Springs Ranch (CSR) plats are in effect but have not been in play or enforced for many years.

In December 2007, the property was placed under a conservation easement with San Isabel Land Protection Trust, now Colorado Open Lands. The easement permanently protects the property from additional development and increased density and is one of several protected parcels in the immediate area. The easement outlines the rights of the land trust and property owner and permitted uses, including full conveyances; the right to construct up to two single-family dwellings and other new, non-residential structures and fences; and the ability to conduct ranching and farming operations, among other rights.

North 81-acre Parcel and Building Envelope

The main, north parcel features an extended hillside stand of pine, junipers, and pion, a gulch, and a 4-acre building envelope with a small, off-the-grid cabin (needs septic prior to occupancy).

If requested, the sale includes initial plans for a custom, 2,000 sq. ft., three-bedroom, open-floor plan home with outdoor living spaces and an attached garage, designed by Westcliffe Builders, one of the valley’s premiere custom home builders.

The insulated, 252 sq. ft. cabin was built with gorgeous beetle-kill pine from the Trinidad, Colorado area. The cabin can serve as a quest quarters or office and could be expanded and amended with electricity, septic, and water hookups. There is also a detached 8’x8 Tuff Shed with workbench and room for storage.

South 40-acre Parcel and Building Envelope

The south parcel, with a 3-acre building envelope, enjoys the same level of privacy and spectacular views of the north parcel. There is easy access from the eastern road, and electricity is available from the power line immediately east of the building envelope. This parcel offers future development possibilities such as the construction and sale of a possible spec home or a close-by residence for friends and family.

Recreation

Nearby amenities include:

The historic old mining towns of Westcliffe and Silver Cliff and Silver West Airport, boating and fishing on DeWeese Reservoir, Pueblo State Park and Reservoir Camping in the national forest, at the reservoirs, and many other places nearby.

Canon City

Salida

The Arkansas River

The Royal Gorge

Mission Wolf Refuge

Monarch Ski Resort

Bishops Castle

Great Sand Dunes National Park

Taos and Sante Fe, NM

Region & Climate

Climate in Westcliffe/Silver Cliff, Colorado

Climate in Westcliffe/Silver Cliff, Colorado

Westcliffe/Silver Cliff, Colorado gets 14 inches of rain, on average, per year. The US average is 38 inches of rain per year.

Westcliffe/Silver Cliff averages 86 inches of snow per year. The US average is 28 inches of snow per year.

On average, there are 260 sunny days per year in Westcliffe/Silver Cliff. The US average is 205 sunny days.

Westcliffe/Silver Cliffgets some kind of precipitation, on average, 83 days per year. Precipitation is rain, snow, sleet, or hail that falls to the ground. For precipitation to be counted, you must get at least .01 inches on the ground to measure.

Weather Highlights

Summer High:The July high is around 81 degrees

Winter Low:The January low is 8

Rain:averages 14 inches of rain a year

Snow:averages 70 inches of snow a year

History

Westcliffe was founded in 1881, and neighboring Silver Cliff was first settled in 1869. Many books explain the area’s rich mining and ranching heritage. This property was once part of a 2,400-acre ranch owned for many years by a Denver dentist, George B. Stanleyknown locally as Doc Stanleyand his family. After his death in 1985, the family later sold of approximately 1,200 acres of the western portion of the ranch, part of which became the Cottonwood Springs Ranch (CSR) development. CSR, created in 1995, consisted of 8 approximately 40-acre parcels. This 121-acre parcel was originally represented as parcels 6,7, and 8, which formed the northernmost and most private lots in CSR. The current owners are the first owners of these parcels since the creation of the subdivision.