Glade Park

POPULATION: 1,117 (avg. 3 people/sq mi)

CLIMATE: High Desert, but due to the elevation change, it is usually 10 degrees cooler than Grand Junction

MEDIAN HOME PRICE: $407,500

HOME TO: Colorado National Monument, Glade Park Movies Under the Stars

Located 16 miles west of downtown Grand Junction, Glade Park sits amid the Colorado National Monument. To access Glade Park, one must either drive up Little Park Road or up Rim Rock Drive on the Colorado National Monument, gaining approximately 2,500 feet elevation over 4 miles of hairpin curves. The elevation of Glade Park is approximately 7,000 feet.

A former ranching and farming community, because of precipitation decline, much of the ranch land has been split up into 35-40 acre parcels on which homes now stand. Area zoning permits a density of one house per 35-acre (140,000 m2) parcel. There is no municipal water system available in Glade Park so most houses either have water wells or harvest their own water off the roof.

The remoteness of the area and the creativity of its residents, has made Glade Park home to an unusually high number of alternative and sustainably-constructed homes, including Earthships, rammed earth construction, straw bale, geodesic dome, earthen berm and log construction. The distance of many of the building lots from electrical infrastructure has stimulated construction of a number of energy self-sufficient homes.