Costilla County, Colorado

Forbes Park

Acreage Range 1.74-2.57 Acres
Price Range $14,000-$20,000
Photograph of Hemingway Land Company property

Notes about Purchasing

The page you are currently reading is what we like to call a "master information page" which we create for subdivisions where we have a larger volume of inventory than normal. We provide this as a way to concentrate all of the available information about this region, and the properties within it, into one page where buyers can better learn about the zoning, road conditions, availability of utilities and any of the other salient details we feel a prospective landowner would want to know. We also use this page as a way to present important details about all of the available properties within the region, this way potential buyers won't have to click from listing to listing.

For anyone interested in purchasing land in the subdivision profiled here, we encourage you to read over the information provided to better compare and contrast individual listings and ultimately choose the one that is best for you. While you cannot purchase a specific property on this page, the table of available listings linked below will give you the opportunity to navigate to individual listings pages, where payments options will be presented, and purchases can be made.

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Subdivision Details

Location & Size

 

Forbes Park is an upscale residential subdivision situated just south of Highway 160 and west of the La Veta pass.

Set amongst the high alpine valley, fir forests and snowcapped mountains of the surrounding Sangre De Cristo range, this gated community is the perfect home for those looking for an exclusive setting with rustic mountain charm.

Costilla County, Colorado

See Individual Listing Pages

Fort Garland

See Individual Listing Pages

81133

Legal Information

 

When we speak of property we typically use an address -- 123 Main Street for instance. 

As most vacant land does not have a physical address, however, county governments will identify it in other ways, such as a "legal description", a parcel number or a tax code. The information provided in the table to the right are the ways in which the various state and county agencies will identify this specific parcel of land. These signifiers are important to have when speaking with these agencies - whether they be the assessor, the zoning office, or even the local utilities - and may prove invaluable when initiating conversations about whatever research a buyer intends to do.

Whenever one exists or has been assigned to the land, the physical address will be included in this table.

See Individual Listing Pages

See Individual Listing Pages

See Individual Listing Pages

See Individual Listing Pages

Access & Utilities

 

Roads & Access: All roads in Forbes Park consist of graded dirt and gravel and are maintained year 'round by the Forbes Park Owner's Association. Because of this, all roads throughout the community should be easy to navigate in any vehicle type during good weather. As this region sees a fair amount of annual snowfall, however, a larger truck or off-road capable would be a necessity for anyone choosing to live here or visit during winter months.

Power & Utilities: In an effort to maintain the scenic beauty of this region, the Forbes Park community has no above-ground power lines. That said, most parts of the subdivision are outfitted with underground utilities including power, phone, cable and high-speed internet. Anyone looking to investigate the costs associated with connecting power here is encouraged to contact the San Luis Valley Rural Electric Cooperative, the local utility servicing this region.

Yes

See Individual Listing Pages

Well-Maintained Graded Dirt & Gravel

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Underground Utilities Throughout Community

Underground Utilities Throughout Community

By Well or Holding Tank

Septic Or Alternative System

Zoning & Restrictions

 

Zoning: Properties in Forbes Park are zoned E-R or Estate Residential, a designation which allows for residential areas developed at a higher density and where agricultural use is of incidental value. To learn more about the ER Zoning Designation, please see the attached PDF.

POA: Forbes Park is governed by the Forbes Park Land Owner's Association. This organization is responsible for maintaining the over 13,000 acres that make up the community, including 6,000 acres of common land, a lake, two manmade ponds, hundreds of miles of roads and a community center. In addition, they also sponsor community events including ones organized to safeguard this forested region from fires.

While many buyers may recoil at the suggestion of rules or governing organizations, good POAs can be a benefit to the land and homeowners in their communities as they help to beautify the region and ensure that property values increase over time. For anyone who would like to learn more about the Forbes Park Land Owner's Association you can visit their website here or their Facebook page here.

Environmental Control Committee: Forbes Park is defined as a "covenant and architecturally controlled community." This means that rules exist for land use and development and those rules are enforced, most notably by a three-person owner-member Environmental Control Committee which oversees approval and permitting for all homes built within the subdivision. To learn more about how this Committee works with landowners developing property, you can read this excerpt from the original bylaws.

Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions: When the Forbes Park subdivision was first created, the developer drew up a set of covenants and restrictions to run with the land. While most of these are what we like to refer to as "reasonable, good neighbor restrictions" dealing primarily with the disposal of trash and prohibitions on excess noise, there are a few covenants that deal with acceptable structures for the region as well as minimum square footage requirements of those structures. Because of this, anyone considering purchasing land here is encouraged to review the Forbes Park Covenants and Restrictions document linked here.

Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions, Cont'd: Notable restrictions enumerated in the above linked document include: No structure of a temporary or mobile nature (camping) may be placed on a lot for longer than three days and nights without either a building permit or approval from the E.C.C.; All construction must be completed within 12 months from ground-breaking; No hunting is allowed within the community.

Annual Dues: Property owners in Forbes Park are required to pay $290.00 in annual dues. This fee covers road maintenance, office staff salaries, trash removal and use of the Community Center. 

Yes - Forbes Park Land Owners Association

Yes
PDF

$290.00

1 Year From Ground-Breaking

Title Info

...

Free & Clear

None

None

None

Yes - Insured Through Allpine Title Company

Warranty Deed

Title/Escrow

Waived

Helpful Links

 

The Hemingway Land Company does our best to represent the properties we list as accurately as possible. Our research, however, will always be limited. 

Because of this, included in the table to the right is a list of the relevant state and county governments, agencies and authorities as well as local utilities (and all their respective websites and contact information) which should help to answer any questions a buyer may have about developing this specific property.

Whenever possible it is best to speak with these agencies first as they will always be a far greater source of information about the local region and the regulations which govern it. 

(719) 937-7670
(719) 937-7668
(719) 852-3538
(719) 379-3000
(303) 866-3581
PDF

Misc.

 

Forbes Park Overview: Forbes Park encompasses roughly 20 square miles of land or 13,046 acres. Approximately 8,000 of those acres are comprised of privately owned lots while the remaining 5,000 plus acres consist of common land shared by everyone in the community. The privately owned 8,000 acres breaks down into 3,346 individual parcels. Of the 3,346 privately owned lots in Forbes Park, there are only a little more than 200 home sites, most of which have been developed with log cabin style homes.

Unit Map: Forbes Park consists of 15 Units of land organized from north to south and alphabetized from A to P. This means that properties in Unit A are located in the north end of the subdivision closest to the entrance by Highway 160, then as you move south, you'll encounter the properties in Unit B, Unit C, etc. The properties in Units N and P are on the southernmost end of the subdivision. There is no Unit O.

Parcel Sizes: While the average parcel size in this region is between 1 and 3 acres there are lots in this community which can be as large as 14 acres. It should be noted that these various lot sizes can be found all throughout Forbes Park and there is not one region where smaller or larger lots are concentrated.

Elevation: The general topography of Forbes Park slopes upward to the southwest with its lowest point being along its main gate in the north – which sits at an elevation of about 8500 feet – to its highest point along the back end of the community, which sits at an elevation of 10,500 feet.

Annual Snowfall: Forbes Park averages around 200 inches of snowfall each year. 

Gated Entrance: As noted, Forbes Park is a gated community. Upon purchasing land here, all new property owners are provided with a magnetic key which opens the electronic gate.

Wildlife: Wildlife common to Forbes Park include deer, elk, wild turkey, coyotes and bears.

Hunting & National Forests: While discharging firearms is prohibited within the grounds of this residential community, many will be glad to know that there are numerous opportunities for hunting nearby as Forbes Park is bordered on its east and south by the San Isabel National Forest. It should further be noted that this region is located in Game Management Unit 83.

Subdivision FAQ

Only where indicated on the above property list. If we have two or more properties that are next to one another we will always sell them that way as they are normally more valuable than if sold separately. 

No. If they were adjacent, we’d combine them into one listing.

No. If you look at the property list on this page, you’ll see the Legal Descriptions of the properties. These are written logically. Unit 1, Block 1, Lot A would be adjacent to Unit 1, Block 1, Lot B. So on and so forth. If you’re looking at two properties wondering if they’re adjacent - or even close by - simply review the legal descriptions or their locations on the map.

While lots of this size are available in Forbes Park, if you don't see it in the property list on this page, we don't have it.

Highly unlikely. But if it’s that important to you we’d encourage you to subscribe to our weekly newsletter or YouTube channel. New properties debut on our site every Friday and are announced in those platforms first. By subscribing to either, you’ll be among the first to know should we ever have a listing like that.

No. That’s what the website, the email blast and the YouTube channel are for. 

Yes.

Roads throughout Forbes Park consist of graded dirt and gravel and are maintained year 'round by the Forbes Park Owner's Association, meaning as long as the weather is good they can be navigated in any vehicle type.

It is important to note, however, that this region gets a lot of snow. Anyone visiting the property or choosing to live here will need a larger truck or off-road capable vehicle.

Yes, they are linked on this page as well as each property's individual listing page under the Zoning and Restrictions tab.

This region is zoned ER or Estate Residential. While you can learn more about this designation by visiting the Zoning and Restrictions tab on either this page or any of the individual listing pages for properties in this region, it's important to realize that the Forbes Park POA will have far more to say about how land is used in this community than the County will. Additionally, communities like this usually create their bylaws and covenants to conform to the County Zoning and, in most cases, be stricter than County Zoning. Furthermore, if you're choosing to build in a region like this the POA and their Enviornmental Control Committee can usually help guide you and your contractor as to whatever zoning ordinances you need to be aware of or help with whatever permits you need to procure.

 

This would be an example of something where the POA is stricter than the County. While Costilla County allows for short term RV use (14 Days in a 3 Month Period) and longer stays with additional permits, the Forbes Park POA only allows recreational camping and RV use for three days at a time. 

If you have a building permit, however, you can RV on the land for longer periods while you’re constructing your permanent residence.

RVs can not be used in Forbes Park as a permanent dwelling.

For specific questions about developing land in Forbes Park you'll need to speak with the Forbes Park Enviornmental Control Committee. 

Underground Utilities can be found throughout the Forbes Park community.

Questions like this are best addressed to well driller local to the region. They will always have a far better sense of viability, logistics and cost than we ever could.

As noted, underground utilities including cable and high-speed internet can be found throughout Forbes Park. While we have no experience with it ourselves, we've never heard of any complaints from residents or visitors of the region.

Yes. Please do. We encourage anyone who’s going to buy from us to view the land they’re interested in prior to purchase.

No.

Not recently and not by us, no.

This entire region was platted out years ago. Stakes or pins may have been used to mark property boundaries but it’s questionable they still exist or can be found. While they may be there, we’re not making that guarantee to our buyers.

The GPS coordinates we give you to locate the lots are fairly accurate and should get you to a location that will give you an excellent sense of precisely what chunk of land it is that you’d be buying. For a specific sense of where the lot begins and ends, it is ultimately best to hire a local surveyor.

Three reasons:

1 - For our purposes of creating listings, we have software that tells us everything we need to know about the property’s size, shape and location.

2 - We never know if our end buyer will want or require a survey.

3 - If the survey costs us $1,000 we’re simply going to goose the price of the land $2,000. Hence, it’s ultimately cheaper for the buyer to pay for the survey themselves.

Plat Maps for each property are provided on their individual listing pages. 

No. And even if we could create such a thing it would require updating on an all-too-frequent basis to be convenient for us.

Simply click the ‘Buy Now’ button at the top of the listing page of the property that interests you most. All properties can be purchased with a credit or debit card and some properties are offered with affordable financing options.

Yes. Anyone who wants to close through a title company is welcome to do so. 

Please Note: Anyone electing to fund and close their purchase this way will be required to make a NON-REFUNDABLE $500.00 Earnest Money Deposit.

For more on the Buying process please visit our How It Works - Buying From Us page.

Yes, though not on all properties.

To see if a specific parcel is being sold with a financing option, it is best to view that property's listing page. All purchasing options will be presented there.

Only if you pay it off as slowly as humanly possible.

Our contracts contain only pre-payment incentives and no pre-payment penalties.

Additionally, every contract will come with some sort of X Number of Days Same-As-Cash provision. For instance, 90 Days Same As Cash.

If you pay us all the money at once, it will be deeded into your name immediately. If you elect to finance the land, we will not deed it into your name until such a time as all the payments have been made. Until that time, the land contract will be the document that demonstrates your equitable interest in the property.

As soon as you give us money, it’s yours to do with as you please.