Mountain Towns with Slow-paced living/lifestyle ? ? ?

[jeff-fro]

I am looking for recommendations on some neat mountain towns in northern New Mexico or Colorado that have the small town feel with a slower paced style of living. Somewhere near some national forest land and a ski mountain preferably.

Short Story - Wife graduating in May, no kids yet, considering moving to a mountain town for a couple of years to enjoy the surroundings and relax for a while before settling in somewhere to start the family and careers. We enjoy camping, hiking, hunting, ski/snowboard, and not having to constantly be dealing with multi-tasking, a phone glued to our ear, or the rest of the mess and stress that come along with big city/big business/BS.

Probably sounds like a big dream to achieve but if it's ever going to happen now's the time. I have been to several places such as Taos, Ruidoso, Red River, Durango, and soon to visit Breckenridge. Several of these are on my list, dependent on jobs and housing.
Any other suggestions??

[Daddy Rabbit]

Good luck in your endevors. You already have some nice towns on your list.

[Matthew]

Telluride

[slayr]

Lake City,CO. Beautiful place, laid back environment, and less tourism than the others you mentioned.

[VCC]

Carbondale, Colorado! Lived there, awesome place!

[txarcher]

Canon City or Cuchara, Co.

[Shake1]

Somewhere near Durango, CO. The San Juan National Forest is a couple of miles away.

http://g.co/maps/gk93k

[TxMedic]

Grand Lake, CO is one of my favorites...close to Rocky MTN Nat'l Park. Salida, Leadville and Buena Vista are awesome!

[TxSuperDad]

Red River gets my vote. BUT the last time I was there was over 10 years ago and it was not on the map yet.. If it still has the same atmosphere then that would be move

[Buck assasin]

Red River gets my vote. BUT the last time I was there was over 10 years ago and it was not on the map yet.. If it still has the same atmosphere then that would be move

x2 Still the same ol lil town that i have gone to sence I was a young one. I love it there Havent been there during the snow season but this year may be there that I get to tear up the slopes...... CAINT go wrong with Red River

[jeff-fro]

I went to Red River about 5 years ago, was still a neat small town, just don't know if there will be many opportunities for jobs there. We need a pharmacy in the area for the job hunt and I believe the closest pharmacy is in Taos.

[bowhuntertx]

South Fork is very crowded. It has great fly fishing, the San Juan Nat'l forest, Wolf Creek ski mountain. It isnt near as big as some of the others mentioned.

Breck is my fav, but it is a little bigger. There is a ton to do in Summit County area, it just gets very crowded in the winter.

[sodapop15]

Lake City,CO. Beautiful place, laid back environment, and less tourism than the others you mentioned.

This for sure. This is a beautiful place right next to a national forest. They also have 30" mule deer walking around town.

[jeff-fro]

Carbondale, Colorado! Lived there, awesome place!

Isn't Carbondale just north of Aspen? and is it a tourist area with a crazy cost of living?

[spreadneck]

Gunnison, Lake City, or Crested Butte.