Ward Community

View Ward Homes For Sale

The town is well-known in the region for its rustic feel as an anti-establishment counterculture mountain community, with residents forming an enclosed community wary of outsiders. The town is likewise often viewed with suspicion and puzzlement even by many citizens of liberal-leaning Boulder. The town has received both admiration for its acceptance of outcasts and social misfits, as well as criticism as being a lawless haven for drug users, criminals, and the mentally ill as well as some really neat and interesting people. Its high elevation renders it snowbound in heavy snows, with snow lingering throughout much of the springtime. Its abundance of beautiful buildings from the 19th century heyday, including two churches that date from the 1890s, has made it an off-beat tourist attraction in recent decades, and is sometimes erroneously described as a ghost town. In addition to the many refurbished buildings, the town is filled with rusted out and broken-down cars, giving it the feeling of a haven for cars which have seen better days. Its location at the top of Left Hand Canyon also makes it a frequent destination for recreational bicyclists from nearby Boulder.