Cochiti Lake

The town of Cochití Lake is small ~ 400+ people living on leased land from the Pueblo de Cochiti. We have room for approximately 50 more homes, and then there will be no more building. The Pueblo has stated that we will grow no more, and they will not release any more land for development.

The local elementary school is just a few miles away, and has occasionally received national attention. High school is in Bernalillo, 20+ miles away. Students are picked up for both schools by bus. Santa Fe has a very good community college about 35 miles away.

Shopping is in Santa Fe (30 minutes) and Albuquerque (50 minutes), and the drive home is always stunningly beautiful, dramatic and soothing at the same time. There is a small grocery store in Pena Blanca (6 miles), and the mall here in town houses a convenience store, gas station and laundry facilities..

The Pueblo maintains a beautiful Robert Trent Jones 18 hole golf course just two miles away. The course has a clubhouse that includes a restaurant and meeting facilities.

We have our own volunteer Fire and Ambulance service here in town. Our fire insurance rates are the lowest in the state due to the quality of our volunteer FF department and the town water system. The ambulance service is the only service in the surrounding 100 square miles certified to transport patients, and includes a defibrillator and other high-tech equipment to enhance patient care.

The views from town are spectacular in all directions - Sandia Mountains to the South East, Jemez to the North West, the Bajada escarpment to the North and East. Cochití Lake, a Corp of Engineers Rio Grande flood and irrigation management project is 1/2 mile away, providing boating, swimming, camping and fishing. Hiking opportunities abound, with the Jemez wilderness and outliers from Bandelier National Monument just a few miles away.

The town was initially mostly retirement couples, but the demographics are rapidly shifting to include young couples with children and professionals working in both Santa Fe and Albuquerque. It is quiet, peaceful, and decidedly rural here. Coyotes walk through my back yard, ospreys nest down by the Rio Grande and bald eagles occasionally shadow my car as I drive across the Cochiti Lake Dam. Hummingbirds, chickadees and juncos swarm to the feeders, and a rattlesnake appeared once in my woodpile.

If you want the convenience of city living, don’t bother looking here. But if you heart sings when the mountains turn watermelon pink at sunrise, we are worth checking out.