The Flats
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The Flats
Hover
'Off the Griders,' 'Prarie Rats,' 'Homesteaders,' there are many names for the 300 or so people who live in the Flats.
In this area, there is no sewage, electric lines, the cellphone signal is spotty, and the roads are all dirt.
It's about a 30 minute drive to the nearest town.
The Flats may be the closest thing in the 21st century to what it felt like to be an early settler of the American west.
The people who seek out this kind of lifestyle do so for a variety of reasons.
Many are rejecting the government, cessionists in many ways. Out here, they can do what they wish with little to no police or government regulation.
Others reject and escape broader society--they feel that it has failed them--and they seek out a place where they can live off the land dependant on no one. A few of the off-the-griders lost their homes in the 2008 recession.
No matter the specific reason, most seek out nature as a way of rejecting modernity, and look to Manifest Destiny narratives of true self determination.
But the flats are often unforgiving.
Abandoned homesteads in the form of sheds, trailers, and trucks dot the landscape in the Flats.
Although many come with a dream to live off of the land, the unforgiving landscape can mean an unfortunate reality.
The abandoned trailer pictured is a commonly visible reminder of the true nature of the land.
Self determination tied to the depictions of land rarely includes those who failed to make it.
You are now at the Flats, at the southern end of the Valley.
The Flats is a fitting name. This area is far from many towns and major roads.
If you google 'cheap land Colorado,' this are will come up. You can get your own 5 acre plot for $5,000.
The promise of your own land, great views, and self-determination attracts a particular group of people.
21st century homesteaders.