Alta/Dutch Flat

Having lived in Alta for over 15 years, I can truly attest to the fact that it is a great place to live. When you are a real estate agent, you discover the ins and outs of various communities and I chose the Alta area to carve out my special niche. It’s high enough in elevation that it gets plenty of snow. And it’s low enough in elevation that you can have gardens, fruit trees and grow flowers much earlier than on the summit. It’s often 10-15 degrees warmer at my house than at my office in Soda.

The boundary lines between Dutch Flat/Alta and Alta/Emigrant Gap are often blurred. It’s more of a gradual ascent to Emigrant Gap. I lived off the Drum Forbay exit for many years and it was often raining at my exit and then snowing heavily at my house. I’ve discovered that a lot of snow starts to accumulate at the 4900 foot elevation, the location of my former house. The exit, about 500 feet lower, is often the location of chain control.

Dutch Flat is a beautiful town, one of the only little hamlets to not burn completely to the ground during the Gold Rush. It has one of the oldest papers still in publication, the Community Newspaper. The Monte Vista is a local hangout, with a great atmosphere and food to match. Many of the homes in Dutch Flat have been restored and there exists a small town charm that is incredibly hard to find. Several key recurring events help define the town, from it’s Rockwell-esque Fourth of July celebration to its community potlucks. Even if you are on a quick drive, you must not miss this gem.

Alta has homes and properties generally on more acreage than Dutch Flat proper. It houses the local award-winning grammar school and PG&E is a large employer in the town. If you move to the upper elevations of Alta, you will soon discover that PG&E still refers to this area as Baxter. Since Baxter doesn’t officially exist anymore (the post office was closed years ago), we don’t correct PG&E because their record system is one of the only things keeping Baxter alive.

Both towns enjoy charming general stores and post offices and share a quaint community center building and a lovely public pool. Homes can be purchased from the $200,000s (sometimes less) and over a million for luxury estates with killer views.