The evidence of this rural lifestyle is seen in the population density of 4.41 persons per square mile. Forty percent of our county's land is State and Federally owned and most of the Sangre de Cristo range is designated a National Wilderness Area. Currently there are approximately 3,500 people living in Custer County. With over 320 days of sunshine per year and with low humidity, the weather is pleasant the vast majority of the time, even in the winter. In this blessed region of Southern Colorado, there is seldom an extended period of gray skies.
Opportunities abound for the flyfisherman in valley ponds and in an alpine lake as in the photo.
Custer County celebrates its cowboy roots during the Westcliffe Stampede each July. The historic Beckwith Ranch is just one of the sites on the Frontier Pathway National Scenic and Historic Byway.