If I had to do it all over again, I would have stayed in Cocoa Beach, FL. I have been in the Cripple Creek area with it -20F and the wind blowing 50MPH and the entire town had no electricity for 3 days. I was in a little camper with propane, so I was cozy. The rest of the town not so.
I live in Pueblo West. Was fairly quiet in 2006. Now it is noisy. Used to be the coyotes howl at night, now it dogs barking.
If you really want mountain living try Teller county. Park county is cheaper. Living in the mountains can be brutal. Extreme weather is the norm. You can go hiking in a t-shirt and shorts, 30 MINUTES later the temperature has dropped 40 degrees and golf ball sized hail is beating you to death. It can snow in the middle of summer.
Make sure you have a firearm. You can call 911 and they might not be able to get to you for hours.
If you live in the forest, your house can burn down in a huge conflagration.

I would make a list of all your criteria, and go with that list. Make sure the property was never a meth lab.

Look at Google earth, it will show the terrain. I have seen roads closed for months, due to washouts.

Watch out for shyster realtors. They will lie to you.

Sometimes it is brutal living here.