Alma

Alma lies just six miles northwest of Fairplay, and is a small town with only 270 inhabitants. Many of these folks work in construction, retail, hospitality, and health care. The median household income is $29,516 which is considerable lower than the state average of $55,430. The housing prices here are lower than state averages as well, and are in the lower $200,000 range.

There is a lot to do in Alma. It's close to great skiing, hiking, fly fishing, and the highest motor vehicle pass in the world is here, known as Mosquito Pass. The scenic views are any direction you look, with mountains, Aspen trees, and pine trees all around. The town lies near the base of three separate mountains, and used to be a mining town. At one point, it produced over $1.5 million in ore. Soon after the mines began to diminish, an epidemic of smallpox wiped out many of the remaining residents.

While Alma is a bit isolated, it is worth a trip here for adventure seekers and outdoor lovers alike. Photographers can have a field day here with the abundant wildlife and scenic views.

Alma is a little mountain town of less than 200 souls. Alma is just up in the hills from Fairplay and together the two towns are as close to the towns of South Park that you get. There are cows, school buses, snowy peaked mountains but no aliens that I have seen.

Alma is up HW 9 which goes onto Breckenridge. There are some homes around the highway and a few homes scattered up the roads going out of town and up deeper into the mountains. Alma has a few little shops, gas and a restaurant or two but overall this is a very small place. It would be a great place to have a summer home or for the brave souls who truly want an isolated place to buy an affordable mountain cabin, the hills and forest roads around Alma have some interesting properties. Summertime is gorgeous and the meadows are full of wild flowers and warm breezes, but winter gets crisp and snowy but the sun comes out year round.

At 10,578 feet Alma took the title of the highest incorporated municipality in the United States with permanent residents from Leadville until 2006 when Winter Park, Colorado, became the highest incorporated town due to its annexation of a ski area. Near Alma is the famous Sweet Home Mine a former silver mine that yielded not only silver but also beautiful pieces of Colorado's state mineral the red rhodochrosite.