Looking for cheaper land prices (yeah I know)- that’s why Colorado probably does not apply. And preferably close to a ski area suitable for adrenaline junkie.
I assume you have a truck and trailer becasue traveling is what you will be doing to get to horse trials etc.
Anyway, places like Whitefish and Kalispell MT are as expensive as Colorado etc. as they are now refuges for Bay Area entrepreneurs and workers. My nephew (another Bay Area expat) just bought a home in Whitefish so he can ski. The price already doubled in the last 2 months. He figures about 50% of the folks in his neighborhood are from SF.
Idaho, such as Sun Valley, maybe? But again, there is no real eventing there. My friends in those areas head out to compete in Washington and California.
You also might consider Utah (Park City area, down in places like Heber).
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Keep in mind, the areas you’ve mentioned are all part of (or at least partially in) the Rockies, and lemme tell ya, they don’t call them the “Rocky” Mountains for nothing. When I lived in CO, it wasn’t terribly uncommon for people to bemoan how difficult it was to keep their event horses sound because of the natural, gravelly footing. You can’t just go condition in any old field like you can on the East Coast. With that in mind, I’d expect the PNW would probably be better in that regard, as those areas (in my understanding anyways) tend to be a bit more lush than arid.
But as RAyers said, you’re gonna have to drive. A lot. Not only to trials, but just about everywhere. The “cheap” houses with any amount of land are rarely close to a town with a grocery store and may or may not have internet access (if you’re planning on working remotely). And similarly for anything close to a ski town, it’s not going to be cheap either.
What are your priorities? How far are you willing to drive to get to a trial? How far are you willing to drive to get groceries? How close to an eventing trainer do you need to be? How far are you willing to drive to go skiing? Do you need good internet access? Planning on keeping horses at home? How close do you need to be to school XC?
Answering those questions will definitely help us narrow down regions that might work for you.
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Hi, Idaho is getting up there in price. In Boise alone it has gone up quite significantly. MCall is nice, but it has gotten fairly pricey there is a fun little mountain there, fairly easy, but nice cruiser runs. Sun Valley and the area around that is great, but again the price of land is one of the highest in the state. It takes at least 5 hours to the nearest event. If you want to go do the higher levels it will probably closer to 10 from the sun valley area. You can go to eastern idaho, like Idaho Falls or Pocatello, which is about 1.5 hrs from Jackson Hole. I am not sure how the price of land is on that side of Idaho. Again, going to any event is at least 5 hrs. Washington is nice, but there isn’t that much skiing, unless you like mashed potato powder/ sierra cement. To go eventing is better there, since there is 4 events within 3 hrs. Again, the cost of living is pretty high. Oregon is the same, bend is nice, but the cost of land there has increased significantly too. Mt Bachelor is fun, but again it doesn’t have great powder. The nearest events are between 4-5 hrs away. Montana is fun, there are several areas that have great skiing, Big sky mountain is a blast to ski, but I’m not sure what the price of land is there. Again you have to travel long distances to go event. Good luck and I will probably see you eventing if you decide to head west!
Sacramento area? You’re within 2ish hrs of 3 events in Northern California and you’re 2ish hours from Lake Tahoe. No clue what land prices are like there but if you want to compete regularly, triangulating yourself to events is a good bet.
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Thanks. Sacramento would be WAY too hot for me and WAY too many people. My boyfriend and I are interested in off grid land because he would like to build an earthship (self sustaining house). I’d like to have enough property to set up xc jumps on the land and keep my horse and other animals there. I guess I am more interested in further North in CA- or another state. Where I am now- (Southern CA mountains) it is about 200 miles to the closest eventing venues. I don’t see myself competing all that often so the distance to an event is probably just part of the package- not a huge deal. Now I could see skiing most days of the week in winter (once I am semi retired) so proximity to a ski area would rank higher. I kind of prefer the boondocks.
You might try the Reno/Carson City area as being ski adjacent and relatively more affordable and relatively accessible to California eventing (though Donner Pass isn’t the most fun place to pull a trailer regularly). The California side of the Sierras is probably not going to meet your needs for being affordable enough or remote enough or cool enough all in one location, though you could try the Auburn/Grass Valley areas.
There are some areas in the north coast area of California you might find suitable, except you’re going to be really far from skiing.
Truly, real estate is extremely expensive right now in any place that would be likely to meet your needs. Whether it will get better or not any time soon, I have no idea.
Reno is also too hot for me. : (
I do have the option of living in a ski town - If I can buy out my siblings 2/3 share in the house. That would be nice but it isn’t a horse property. Could board a few miles away in summer and about 40 miles away in winter. I’d really really prefer to have land where I could keep my horse but who knows. I’m still thinking about Oregon.
Honestly, if you want to be able to ski, boarding is really nice. Getting a horsesitter every time you want to go away for a weekend trip is a drag.
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Poltroon that is true. With my current situation, I keep my horse at home which I prefer and is significantly cheaper for me. I hire a sitter when needed. I would like to do the same down the road (ideally being close enough to ski area where I can ski multiple days in a row based out of my house and being able to care for horse(s) on those days with no conflicts). My horse eats from a bale sized hay net so she really doesn’t have meal times, just need to keep hay full, clean poops. make sure she has water, and she likes her “mush” for dinner time treat. She’s pretty easy.
Wherever you currently have property with an option to buy out siblings is likely to be cheaper than buying anything in the Rocky Mt. West. I live in Bozeman, MT we have a wonderful (public) ski hill, tons of outdoor opportunities, etc. The median price of a single family home (i.e., not with any acreage attached) is approaching 800K. I have no idea what properties with acreage near-ish town are trending for, but I’d budget for a good whack above that. I could sell my modest (but in-town) condo for 400K easy, probably higher than that with cash offers & a bidding war. I bought it for 187K back in 2013, so not THAT long ago. The spike in housing prices has been INSANE & the pandemic only worsened it.
The university hired a new coach for the rodeo team this fall. He can’t find a place in his family’s price range that will allow for horses, so he’s here living with a former student while his family hangs out in Nebraska.
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It’s all very weird. Still hoping to look for some off grid undeveloped land. The bf wants to build an earthship. I suppose I will just have to see what happens.
I know you said not New Mexico, but have you looked into the area outside of Taos? Hard to beat the skiing there IMHO, and there are a bunch of earthships northwest of Taos. Taos itself is not cheap, but I suspect land prices are pretty reasonable in the outlying areas. Doesn’t get very hot there either. Might not be what you’re looking for, but when I read skiing + earthships, I’d be remiss for not mentioning it!
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I’d start by looking at communities near Lake Tahoe. Not sure how long of a drive to ski you’re ok with, but I know around Ione/Waterford is a great area with one facility you might like (Lone Tree Farm) and seemingly land that looks horse friendly around it.
Closer to Tahoe on the Nevada side the satellite view shows Gardnerville is farmed.
And if you’re interested in 56 undeveloped beautiful acres in Badger, CA let me know. We will be selling that in the next year!
Maybe someplace like Sandpoint, ID? It’s only about 15 minutes from Schweitzer, which has great skiing.
Southern Oregon (Roseburg, Grants Pass, Medford) and E. Washington (Moses Lake, Yakima, further out near Waitsburg) are all cheaper and not as hot. You can ski in Wenatchee, WA or further north in Canada (assuming you can cross the border). SO you can probably go to Tahoe to ski. W. Washington has quite a few eventing venues now and there are good trainers there. I believe that northern Nevada, especially near the eastern border with Oregon, is another option. The hardest part in the remote west is finding available land. There may be few chances to buy land since the ranchers and farmers there rarely sell but you never know.
Speaking from experience, proximity to grocery stores and internet service, unless you’re way out in the boonies, is not an issue. I live on 5 acres and the nearest stores are less than 5 miles away. And not just one, but several supermarkets. Skiing is about 1-1/5 hours away. Horse trials, anywhere from 1.5 hours to more than 10 if you’re going to Rebecca. At least from western WA.
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Ah, my experience is mostly in CO and northern NM.
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You should check out Reno, Gardnerville, and areas north of Reno. You want skiing and boondocks? There’s fantastic skiing less than 30 minutes for a number of stables in Reno; Tahoe is an hour away. Plus the further north you go, the more affordable it gets. It’s hot in the summer but not as hot as most of northern CA and it cools down at night. No humidity either. There’s a very strong and active dressage and h/j community. Other than that, northern New England It’s way cheaper than the west coast.
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