The Town of Cochití Lake
is
small ~ 400+ people living on leased land from the Pueblo
de Cochiti. 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 north) and Albuquerque (50 minutes
south), 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 has 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 Tent Rocks, 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 your heart sings when the mountains turn watermelon pink at sunrise
come visit the Town of Cochiti Lake.
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