Where we live: Southwest colorado

Our location offers an exceptional quality of life with a near-perfect four-season climate. We enjoy over 300 days of sunshine per year and enough snowfall for excellent skiing and spring and summer whitewater rafting and kayaking.

Colorado is one of the healthiest states in the U.S., and Durango is among its healthiest regions, where an active outdoor lifestyle is part of everyday life. Surrounded by millions of acres of uncrowded public lands, residents have easy access to adventures in the Rocky Mountains and the red rock canyons of the Colorado Plateau, all close enough for a day hike and or a weekend adventure.

bayfield

Bayfield, located about two miles east of Heartwood, is a relaxed rural town of roughly 2,000 people that has grown from a traditional ranching community into a lively bedroom community for Durango. Over the past two decades, it has developed into a vibrant mountain town with great community amenities, including the Pine River Library (named the Best Small Library in America), which serves as a major community hub, and the Community Treehouse, a popular family support center and indoor play space. The town also offers a friendly grocery store, drugstore, hardware store, unique shops, several good restaurants (including Mexican spots and a brew pub), and a welcoming coffee shop. Bayfield has recently built new schools, a park, a library, and a town hall, and school bus service is available from Heartwood.

durango

Durango, a town of some 20,000 people, has transitioned from being a mining, railroad, and ranching community to becoming a New West community, where the mines are almost all closed down, the railroad has become a tourist attraction, and the ranches are slowly becoming subdivisions. As old meets new, Durango is a great place to raise a family and a place where it's easy to take a camping trip or a hike and not see a soul. In the new Durango, it's also now easy to find plenty of yoga classes to choose from, get a tasty Thai dinner, see a great concert, and buy good organic produce. Durango is also home to Fort Lewis College, a great school, a vibrant part of the community, and the alma mater of several Heartwood members.

four corners

Four Corners refers to the point where Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico intersect. The region is spectacular for its mountains, red rock canyons, rich cultural heritage, and lack of people. Just to the north of Heartwood, in the San Juan Mountains, is Colorado's greatest concentration of 14,000 foot peaks, where we camp and hike in the summer and ski in the winter. In the spring and fall, we head west to the amazing Colorado Plateau where the Colorado River and its tributaries have cut canyons deep into the Utah sandstone and where the Ancestral Pueblo (Anasazi) Indians lived a thousand years ago. Within the Four Corners Region are an astounding number of National Parks, National Monuments, National Forests, and Ancestral Pueblo Ruins. 

what’s nearby

  • Bayfield – 5 Minutes Away

    -Primary, intermediate, middle, and high schools

    -Award-winning Pine River Library

    -The Community Treehouse (family support center and indoor play space)

    -Well-stocked hardware store

    -Local grocery store and bakery

    -Bayfield Farmers Market

    -About a dozen restaurants

    -Shops and thrift store

    -Post office and essential services

    -Bayfield Town Park

    -Pine River access

  • Ignacio – 20 Minutes Away

    -Sun Ute Recreation Center

    -Southern Ute Cultural Center and Museum

    -Fox Fire Farms Winery

    -Access to the San Juan National Forest

    -Navajo Lake access

  • Durango – 30 Minutes Away

    -Fort Lewis College

    -Community Concert Hall

    -Charter schools including Juniper School, Mountain Middle School, and Animas High School

    -Durango Farmers Market

    -150+ restaurants, breweries, and cafes

    -Art galleries, classes, and cultural events

    -Powerhouse Science Museum

    -Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad

    -Animas River (rafting and recreation)

    -Lake Nighthorse

  • within an hour away

    -Mesa Verde National Park

    -Chimney Rock National Monument

    -Hermosa Creek Wilderness

    -San Juan Mountains

    -La Plata Mountains

    -Pagosa Hot Springs

    -Durango Hot Springs

    -Purgatory Ski Resort

  • within 3 hours away

    -Canyonlands National Park

    -Chaco Canyon National Historical Park

    -Canyons of the Ancients National Monument

    -Hovenweep National Monument

    -Natural Bridges National Monument

    -Four Corners Monument

    -Mount Sneffels Wilderness

    -Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness

    -Sangre de Cristo Wilderness

    -Rio Grande National Forest

    -Moab, Utah

    -Telluride, Colorado

    -Ouray, Colorado

    -Wolf Creek and Telluride Ski Resorts

  • within 5 hours away

    -Five more National Parks

    -Nine more National Monuments

    -Seven more National Forests

    -Taos, New Mexico

    -Santa Fe, New Mexico

    -Crested Butte Ski Resort

    -Taos Ski Valley

    -Monarch Ski Area