My Listings

Costilla Valley

Heading north from Taos, State Highway 522 passes through the town of Costilla just south of the Colorado state line, about 40 miles north of where this road starts at the Old Blinking Light intersection. The Costilla Valley region extends from the town of Costilla, up the Costilla river to Amalia and eventually to the former Ski Rio ski area. The Costilla River dominates this zone as it drains a major portion of the Sangre de Cristo mountains before heading north into Colorado where it joins the Rio Grande. This river valley also forms the western gateway to the Valle Vidal wildlife management area. This is excellent fly fishing country.

Time has pretty much forgotten this region. Very little new construction exists. Declining ranching and farming here have led to a shrinking population. But, those looking for the Old West will not be disappointed. The mountains and lush valley provide wonderful views and wildlife habitat without the glitz of many mountain resort towns. Come here to really get away from it all.

Click on any shaded area of the map to see information. Clicking outside of the shaded area will return you to the MLS map page.

Maps and content Copyright by John Kejr

Distance to Taos: 50 - 90 Minutes

Distance to Taos Ski Valley: 1 -2 hours

The Taos MLS divides this area into three MLS zones:

Amalia (02A)

Amalia covers the largest area of this region. This zone of scenic pasture and ranch land, surrounded by some of New Mexico's tallest peaks, follows the Costilla River Valley and its tributary streams within the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Basically anything along the Costilla River east of the town of Costilla is in the Amalia zone. The west boundary begins where NM 196 first crosses the Rio Costilla. The zone extends upriver up to the scenic Valle Vidal conservation area of the Carson National Forest. In addition to the river valley, this zone also covers a relatively flat basin area to the north extending to the Colorado border. Except for a post office, all other services require a drive to Costilla and beyond.

Costilla (15A)

Here the Rio Costilla Valley leaves the mountains and opens up and flattens out as it joins into the much larger San Luis/Rio Grande Valley. Ute Mountain dominates the western view. The Sangre de Cristo range fills the eastern horizon with view extending well north into Colorado.

Any one looking to own a true New Mexico adobe will find plenty of affordable properties in this area. Today Costilla serves as the turn off point for those leaving the highway 522 to head up the valley to Amalia and the Valle Vidal. Garcia Park, Colorado sits off the highway just across the state line to the northwest and is indistinguishable from Costilla except for the change in state license plates of parked cars (Garcia Park listings are listed in the OTHER (54A) zone of the Taos MLS). For services beyond the basic gas station, San Luis, Colorado and Questa provide the nearest towns of any size.

Rio Cost Ski (39A)

Some highway maps still show the Ski Rio ski area located just to the south of Amalia, though the resort has not operated since 2000. Today you can think of it as a ski area in storage. The roads and facilities have been boarded up, but are still maintained. A small number of ski-in, ski-out homes were sold during the days when the resort was in operation, and occasionally come up for sale.

The future of this area offers intriguing possibilities. Unlike most western ski resorts, Ski Rio sits on private property. In January 2008 the local media reported that CIMEX Invest Inc., (headquartered in Naples, Florida and the Czech Republic) purchased the ski area and now owns the large amount of acreage and facilities. Will they reopen the ski area or use it for other development purposes? No one is saying.

Information Request Form

Select the items that apply, and then let John know how to contact you.

| Dreamcatcher Real Estate, Inc. 515 Gusdorf Rd., Suite 2, Taos, NM 87571 (575)758-3606 | Licensed in the State of New Mexico