Carbondale and Missouri Heights:
Small towns with a big view

Here, on these heights, and in this wide valley, you'll find the big view of life: Green ranchlands. A massive profile of Mt. Sopris. Unending Colorado sky.

Carbondale and Missouri Heights lie just 45 minutes from Aspen, but it feels like you've entered another world.

Missouri Heights perches on a bluff where horses rule and the annual Strang Ranch Horse Trails bring competitive riders from all over the country.

With a population slightly under 6,000, Carbondale boasts a Main Street that celebrates al fresco sculpture and hearkens back to bygone days. Parades feature everything from dogs and bikes to a "procession of the species." Carbondale boasts an uncommon number of nonprofits devoted to the arts and the environment, as well as its own solar-powered public radio station.

Community feeling here translates into community action. Young companies are encouraged and people in need are given a hand.

Check out the gala Mountain Fair; a midsummer gathering with craftspeople from everywhere and a never-ending stream of balloons, munchies and dancing.

If time hasn't quite stopped here, it has certainly paused to catch its breath.