About the Area

Location

Archuleta County is located in southwest Colorado, situated at the junction of U.S. 160 and 84 at an elevation of 7,079 feet. The county seat, Pagosa Springs, is located 30 miles north of the New Mexico border, and 60 miles east of Durango. It is also near the Four Corners region where Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona meet.

Physical Description

Archuleta County is comprised of 872,960 acres. Only 34 percent of lands in Archuleta County are in private ownership. Tribal lands comprise 14.4 percent of the county. Most of the northern and eastern portions of the county (51.6 percent) are within the San Juan National Forest. There is a total of approximately 2.8 million acres of National Forest and Bureau of Land Management surrounding Archuleta County.

Population Archuleta County

Source: US Census Bureau State & County QuickFacts

2023 estimate — 14,189

Housing and Income 

Median value owner-occupied housing — $432,400

Households — 5,738

Persons per household — 2.32

Per capita money income — $39,155

Median household income — $66,813

Persons in poverty — 9.8 percent

Geography

Land area (square miles) — 1,350

Persons per square mile — 9.9

Taxes

Sales and User Tax: 2.9 percent state, 4 percent county. County sales tax revenue is divided
between county and town.

Lodger’s Tax: A 4.9 percent tax is collected from the lodging industry in town limits. The county collects a 2 percent tax for lodging. Lodging tax is used for tourism promotion, among other things.

Primary Source of Town & County Revenue: Retail sales taxes, property taxes and charges for services.

Government

Town Government: www.pagosasprings.co.gov

Home Rule Municipality

Town council with elected mayor and six councilors elected for alternating four-year terms, town manager is appointed. Date of incorporation: 1891.

County Government: www.archuletacounty.org.

Three county commissioners elected for alternating four-year terms.

Media 

Newspaper: The Pagosa Springs SUN 

 www.pagosasun.com, (970) 264-2100

Education

District 50 Joint Office (970) 264-2228 

 www.mypagosaschools.com

High School (970) 264-2231

Middle School, 5th-6th grades (970) 264-2256

Middle School, 7th-8th grades (970) 264-2794

Elementary School (970) 264-2229

Pagosa Peak Open School (970) 317-2151

San Juan Mountain School (970) 264-2231, ext. 9247

The Training Advantage (970) 264-5627

GOAL Academy (877) PRO-GOAL

Utilities

Electric La Plata Electric Association

(970) 247-5786, www.lpea.coop

Gas/Natural Black Hills Energy

(888) 890-5554, www.blackhillsenergy.com

Propane Arrowhead Propane (970) 582-3225

Basin Coop (970) 247-3066

Inter-Mountain Propane (970) 264-1301

Selph’s Propane (970) 731-3737

Water Pagosa Area Water & Sanitation

(970) 731-2691, www.pawsd.org

Sanitation Pagosa Area Water & Sanitation

(970) 731-2691, www.pawsd.org

 Town of Pagosa Springs, (970) 264-4151 

www.pagosasprings.co.gov

Trash At Your Disposal (970) 731-4892

Elite Recycling & Disposal (970) 731-2012

Waste Management (970) 264-5622

County Transfer Station (970) 264-5660

Tourism & Business Development

Pagosa Springs Community Development Corp.

www.pagosaspringscdc.org

(970) 264-2360

Pagosa Springs Area Chamber of Commerce

www.pagosaspringschamber.com

(970) 264-2360

Pagosa Springs Area Tourism

www.visitpagosasprings.com

www.explorepagosa.com

(970) 585-1200 or (866) 438-4917

Region 9 Economic Development District

(970) 247-9621, www.scan.org

Fort Lewis College Small Business Development 

(970) 247-7009

Home

Related Website Links & Info

Association of Realtors, 

www.pagosaspringsrealtors.com

U.S. Postal Service

 Hot Springs Boulevard, (970) 264-5440

U.S. Forest Service Pagosa Ranger District Office 

 (970) 264-2268, www.fs.usda.gov/sanjuan

Colorado State University Extension Office 

 (970) 264-5931, www.archuleta.colostate.edu

Ruby Sisson Memorial Library

 (970) 264-2209, pagosalibrary.org

Stevens Field Airport

 (970) 731-3060, FBO (970) 731-2127
 www.archuletacounty.org/45/Airport

 AWOS frequency 127.175

Durango-La Plata County Airport 

 www.flydurango.com 

Road Conditions

Colorado Department of Transportation 

 511 or (303) 639-1111, www.cotrip.org

Archuleta County Road Report 

 (970) 264-5555

New Mexico Road Report

 (800) 432-4269, www.nmroads.com