Pagosa Springs

Pagosa Springs lies in southwestern Colorado and is home to 1,725 residents. There are a lot of single family homes as well as a few apartment complexes here. During the summer, the views from around here can be stunning. While driving down the main street in Pagosa Springs you can see some neat, older homes that look like they have been around for a while. The area can be hilly in some spots, making 4-wheel drive cars and trucks necessary during the winter.

This is a great place for outdoor sports fans as there are mountains all around and many lakes nearby. You can find hiking, hunting, fishing, camping, and more just about any direction.

The median household income here is $44,531 while the median detached single family home price is $292,552, so the cost of living here is not really good. But for those who can afford it, it's a great little town with some good locally owned restaurants, tons of stuff to do, and very friendly people. This town actually made it on Phil Keoghan's "23 Destinations You Have to See Before You Die" list. Not bad for such a small little town!

Pagosa Springs is a cool little town along HW 160 between the Wolf Creek ski area and Durango to the west. The 3 million acre HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Juan_National_Forest"San Juan National Forest and the HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Ute_Indian_Reservation"Southern Ute Indian land dominate the area around Pagosa. The town is also close to the largest wilderness area in Colorado, the lesser known HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weminuche_Wilderness"Weminuche Wilderness. The area gets a lot of dumps (snow) but being south and as high as it is (~7,000 feet elevation) Pagosa gets a lot of sunshine and warmer temperatures in the winter months compared to Steamboat Springs or other northern Colorado mountain towns.

Local shops, cafes and restaurants dominate the town when you pass through. Unlike a lot of dusty little towns in Colorado Pagosa has unique businesses and a modern "new age" feel. The highway really dominates the town and most of the businesses are crowded on that main drag, but the town still keeps a lively energy about it.

From what I understand a lot of the properties in the area are “summer homes” or in this case close to a ski area there are a lot of summer/winter vacation homes. There are some really nice properties in the beautiful forested area around the town, in the hills and mountains and lakes of the area.

The town is named after the Ute word "Pah gosah" meaning "healing waters” referring to the large, active sulfur rich hot springs. The area is great for tourists and because of Wolf Creek, the hot springs and the beauty of the surrounding area property values hold well.