2002
Central CO title since
At 10,578 feet below Hoosier Pass, Alma is the highest incorporated town in North America with year-round residents — half an hour over Hoosier Pass from Breckenridge, and the epicenter of Park County's mining-claim country. Claim title is our home turf.
Alma was established in 1873 by miners working the gulches under Mounts Lincoln, Bross, Democrat, and Cameron, and the district ran hard for decades — two smelters by 1873, and mines that later made the Sweet Home famous worldwide for rhodochrosite. That history isn't trivia here; it's the root of title. A large share of Alma-area parcels are patented mining claims, and the patent — with whatever the government or a prior owner reserved — is where our examination starts.
Three things decide an Alma file. Claim boundaries: legals come from 1800s mineral surveys, drawn long before the county grid, and overlapping or conflicting claims are a genuine local condition — sometimes a retracement survey is the honest answer. Severed minerals: surface has often been sold with minerals retained, so what's under your cabin may not convey with it; we trace the reservations of record. Access: claim parcels are frequently reached by unmaintained roads across other claims or Forest Service land — recorded legal access and plowed winter access are two different questions, and we make sure you know the answer to the first before closing. Wells and water are their own subject up here — water rights convey separately from the land and aren't part of a title search; we flag what's recorded and refer the rest.
In-town Alma is simpler — small lots, some on town utilities, with Placer Valley's tiered subdivision between town and the pass drawing Breckenridge commuters. Either way, our Buena Vista and Salida offices close Alma files every month: in person, in Denver, or remotely with a notary.
What we examine on Alma files — read locally, explained in plain language.
The chain starts at a federal patent and a 19th-century mineral survey. We trace the patent, its reservations, and flag boundary conflicts that call for a retracement survey.
Surface-only conveyances are common here — minerals reserved generations ago can still be outstanding. The commitment shows exactly what conveys.
A road you can drive in July isn't a recorded easement, and it may not be plowed in January. We confirm access of record before you commit.
"A cabin on a claim is a Colorado dream. A claim with an overlap and no recorded access is a title problem. We find out which one you're buying."
Straight answers. Informational only — not legal advice.
Yes — the patent passed federal title to the claim, and it can be owned, sold, and often built on (subject to Park County's claim-development review). But boundaries come from 1800s mineral surveys and reservations ride the patent, so the examination matters more than usual. (Informational only, not legal advice.)
Only if they were never severed. Around Alma it's common for minerals to have been reserved somewhere in the chain — the title commitment shows the reservations of record, so you know what conveys before closing.
Many claim roads are unplowed or seasonal. Recorded legal access is what title examination confirms; winter maintenance is a separate, practical question worth asking before you buy. We make sure you know both answers.
Request title work, get a quote, or just ask a question. We'll move quickly.