FLACK FOREST AREA

Black Forest is where I grew up, so I’ll say it plainly: there’s nowhere else quite like it along the Front Range. It’s about 100 square miles of ponderosa pine, meadow and rolling hills on top of the Palmer Divide, with an average elevation around 7,400 feet. It sits just northeast of Colorado Springs, close enough to be in town in 20 minutes and far enough to see the stars at night.

The name goes back to the dense stand of ponderosa pine that early settlers found here in the 1800s. More than a dozen sawmills worked these woods. Today it’s mostly homes on acreage, and people choose it because they want trees, space and a little distance between themselves and the neighbors.

Five acres is the starting point

The single most important thing to understand about Black Forest is its zoning. Since the 1960s, most of the area has had five-acre minimum lots, and the community’s preservation plan has kept it rural ever since. Residents also voted against becoming a city in 2006. That’s why Black Forest still looks the way it does while the land around it has filled in.

There are exceptions. Some planned subdivisions were approved with 2.5-acre lots, and a few have larger estate parcels. But the general rule holds: in Black Forest, you’re buying land with a house on it, not a house on a lot.

How the area is laid out

Highway 83 runs north–south along the western side, and most of the planned luxury subdivisions cluster near it, between Colorado Springs and Monument. Black Forest Road, Vollmer Road, Shoup Road and Hodgen Road form the rest of the grid. Ponderosa cover is thickest in the central and northern parts of the forest. The edges, especially to the south and east, open into meadow and prairie with long mountain views.

Ask a local where the center of Black Forest is and they’ll point you to the intersection of Black Forest Road and Shoup Road. There’s no real downtown, but you’ll find small commercial strips north and south of that corner along Black Forest Road. The biggest event of the year is the MeadowGrass Music Festival, an outdoor roots-music festival that’s been running for nearly two decades and draws local, regional and national acts.

A note on the zip code. 80908 and “Black Forest” aren’t the same thing. The southern edge of 80908 has filled in with newer suburban neighborhoods on small lots, communities that work more like an extension of Briargate, Wolf Ranch and Pine Creek than like Black Forest. They’re good neighborhoods in their own right, but if you’re picturing pines and five acres, that’s not what you’ll find in that part of the zip. This page covers Black Forest as locals mean it.

That southern edge is the clearest example of how fast things have changed. When I was growing up, the land along Black Forest Road south of the forest was pasture, ranches and riding clubs, mostly western riding. Now it’s Wolf Ranch, and it feels like Briargate jumped over Powers Boulevard and kept going east. Back then, Powers only went as far as Woodmen Road, and getting from a friend’s house in the forest into the city took a good 20 minutes. Black Forest used to feel “out there” to a lot of people. The city has grown right up to its edge.

One of those was the Black Forest Roping Club, off the eastern, disconnected stretch of Old Ranch Road just west of Black Forest Road. My mom roped there, and my sister and I spent a lot of nights at that dusty outdoor arena with its two-story announcer’s tower, watching cowboys and ranchers team-rope. As the club’s heyday faded, my parents built an arena of their own, where my mom hosted friends who still loved team roping. For a while, our family even sponsored the Air Force Academy’s roping and bulldogging team.

Living in the forest

Black Forest Regional Park is the local favorite: 385 acres off Shoup Road with about four miles of trails, a playground, picnic pavilions, playing fields and tennis courts. It isn’t as big or as built-out as Fox Run, but for most people in the forest, it’s closer. The park was damaged in the 2013 fire and the flooding that followed, and volunteers have spent years restoring it.

For something more demanding, Black Forest Section 16 off Burgess Road has a four-mile loop that’s popular with hikers and mountain bikers. Locals don’t consider it especially hard. The terrain just goes up and down more than anything else nearby.

Right at Black Forest and Shoup is the heart of the Black Forest area. The community center sits just to the north. And if you have animals, Rockin’ B has been the place for feed and hay for decades. I spent plenty of time there growing up, since that’s where we bought our feed – and my mom’s friends ran the place.

The trees also block a lot of light pollution, so the night sky out here is far darker than in the open parts of the city. Deer and wild turkeys are everyday sights, and a band of elk sometimes turns up in the northern part of the forest.

The neighborhoods

Much of Black Forest isn’t in a named subdivision at all. It’s individual parcels on county roads, each one different. The named neighborhoods below are the ones buyers ask about most:

• Walden: custom homes on three-quarter-acre and 2.5-acre homesites, with about 92 acres of shared open space, trails and ponds.
• Cathedral Pines: 2.5- to 5-acre homesites across about 810 acres, with more than 450 acres of open space and ponds.
• High Forest Ranch: gated, with private trails, community ponds and a lodge, east of Highway 83.
• Flying Horse North: acreage homesites around a golf course between Black Forest Road and Highway 83.
• Settlers Ranch: 2.5-acre custom homesites off Hodgen Road with Pikes Peak views.
• Wildwood & Hodgen Road: wooded five-acre parcels in Wildwood, open, level acreage with room for horses in Cherry Creek Springs across Hodgen Road, and newer custom homes in Terra Ridge.
• New Breed Ranch & Bridle Bit: new five-acre custom homesites in New Breed Ranch, plus established horse-zoned properties in Bridle Bit Ranch and Abert Estates, off Shoup Road.

The 2013 fire

You can’t talk about Black Forest without talking about the fire. In June 2013, the Black Forest Fire burned about 15,500 acres, destroyed 511 structures and took two lives. It was the most destructive fire in Colorado history at the time.

I remember it well. I helped evacuate horses in the early hours of the fire, and many of the families I grew up with lost everything. Some of them never came back. Thirteen years later, the burn scar is only now starting to show real signs of regrowth.

It also changed how parts of the forest are built. Where the trees used to block the view, many rebuilt and newer homes now sit on open, sandy lots with wide-open views of Pikes Peak. Some of the area’s highest-end homes are in the burn area today. If you’re shopping here, you’ll notice the difference right away: some streets are still deep in the pines, and others are open ground with big skies and young trees just getting started.

What’s worth knowing before you buy here

Wells and septic. Most Black Forest homes rely on private wells drawing from deep Denver Basin aquifers, with septic systems for wastewater. Well permits spell out what the water can be used for, like household use, irrigation or livestock, and those limits matter. Always inspect both the well and the septic system, test the water, and read the well permit before you buy.

Wildfire is the defining risk. Mitigation is part of everyday ownership here: thinning trees, creating defensible space and keeping access clear for fire crews. Insurance availability and cost belong at the top of your due diligence list. Get a quote before you’re under contract.

Three main school districts. Black Forest is split among Academy District 20, Lewis-Palmer District 38 and District 49, with a small part in Peyton. The assigned district can change from one side of a road to the other, so verify it by address.

Roads and winter. Many roads are county-maintained, and some are gravel. Plowing priorities differ from the city’s. A long driveway in a snowstorm is your responsibility, so plan for it.

Covenants vary widely. Some parcels have no HOA at all, and others are in subdivisions with detailed architectural rules. Read them before you plan a barn, shop or fence.

Neighboring areas

Head west across Highway 83 and you’re in Northgate, the 80921 side of northern Colorado Springs, with newer neighborhoods and city services. Head northwest and you’re in Monument and the Tri-Lakes area, where the Kings Deer area and Woodmoor offer acreage and trees closer to town.

Current market and listings

Acreage doesn’t price like subdivision homes, and it rarely follows a neighborhood average. My monthly Market Update covers the broader trend in 80908. Active listings are below. Greg and I work these properties directly. When you call about a Black Forest home, you get one of us, not a team. Wells, septic, mitigation and usable acreage are where these purchases are won or lost, and I’d love to walk a property with you.