Mountains
Gunnison County
Property taxes, marriage licenses, vehicle services, and many public records run through Gunnison County. Permits and local rules may sit with a town or city instead, so match the office to the exact address.
Official county shortcuts
Take the task to the office that handles it
These links go straight to the official county or regional office shown. Check that page for current documents, hours, appointments, fees, and address-specific instructions. A city may run its own permit office.
Property tax snapshot
Typical property tax in Gunnison County
The average total mill levy across Gunnison County was about 62.2 mills for tax year 2023 — below the statewide average of about 81 mills. On a $500,000 home, that comes to roughly $2,036 a year, using Colorado's 2026 residential rules: 7.05% on school mills, and 6.8% on the rest after the local actual-value adjustment.
This is the county average across all tax areas. Your parcel's actual mill levy depends on its exact tax area — a metro or special district can add many mills on top — so confirm the real number with the county assessor.
Sales tax: the state charges 2.9% and Gunnison County adds 1%, for 3.9% before any city or special district. See Colorado sales tax rates ->
Source: Colorado Division of Property Taxation, 53rd Annual Report (2023) — Average Levies by County.
Incorporated places in this county
These cities and towns touch Gunnison County. Some cross a county line. Every name opens a direct place page, and selected places include a fuller local guide.
Get to know Gunnison County
The history, land, and character behind the place.
Outdoors and wildfire
The Gunnison sage-grouse shapes life across the Gunnison Basin
The Gunnison sage-grouse is a federally listed bird whose sagebrush habitat covers much of the Gunnison Basin, and its protection touches land use and recreation here.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Near Crested Butte, forest camping has moved to designated sites
In several drainages around Crested Butte, the national forest now limits camping to designated sites or established campgrounds rather than camp-anywhere dispersed use.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Motorboats on Blue Mesa need an inspection before launch
To keep out invasive zebra and quagga mussels, motorized and trailered boats must pass an aquatic-species inspection before launching at Blue Mesa Reservoir in Curecanti.
Read note ->Water and land
Blue Mesa is a federal reservoir, not the county's tap water
Blue Mesa Reservoir is part of a National Park Service recreation area on the Gunnison River and is managed by federal agencies, separate from any town's drinking-water system.
Read note ->Money and taxes (5)
Money and taxes
A Gunnison County tax lien certificate is not the land
A winning Gunnison County tax lien certificate buys a lien on unpaid taxes, not ownership, access, or the right to improve the land.
Read note ->Money and taxes
Gunnison County tax statements follow the owner of record
Gunnison County tax statements go to the owner of record, and never getting one in the mail does not erase the duty to pay on time.
Read note ->Home and property (8)
Home and property
A Gunnison County building permit can touch more than the building office
A Gunnison County building permit routes through several review agencies, so septic, driveways, and site issues shape what gets approved.
Read note ->Home and property
Gunnison County septic records may be in the permit database
A rural cabin's septic history lives in Gunnison County's permit database, filed under OWTS now and older ISDS records before that.
Read note ->Water and land (4)
Water and land
The Gunnison River through Black Canyon has special fishing rules
Black Canyon's Gunnison River uses artificial flies or lures only, keeps rainbow trout catch-and-release, and closes fishing for 200 yards below Crystal Dam.
Read note ->Water and land
Taylor Park Reservoir and the Taylor River below it
Taylor Park Reservoir is a Forest Service reservoir in the upper Taylor River basin, and the Taylor River below the dam is a designated Gold Medal trout fishery.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire (9)
Outdoors and wildfire
Crested Butte, the Wildflower Capital of Colorado
The Colorado legislature named Crested Butte the state's Wildflower Capital in 1990, and the valley's summer meadows back up the title.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Hartman Rocks is BLM land with free dispersed campsites and a spring closure
Hartman Rocks Recreation Area south of Gunnison is BLM land with trails and free first-come dispersed campsites, but part of it closes each spring for sage-grouse.
Read note ->Cars and driving (3)
Cars and driving
Black Canyon's two rims do not connect by road
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park has a South Rim and a North Rim, but no bridge or road links them, so driving from one to the other is a long trip on outside roads.
Read note ->Cars and driving
Some Gunnison County passes close for the whole winter
Several high routes around Gunnison County, including Kebler and Cottonwood passes, close seasonally for winter, so summer shortcuts are not year-round roads.
Read note ->Local rules (3)
Local rules
Building in sage-grouse habitat can mean an early talk with the county
In mapped Gunnison sage-grouse habitat, Gunnison County requires a pre-application conference for certain land-use projects and lets owners request one before building or septic permits.
Read note ->Local rules
Crested Butte and Mt. Crested Butte are two separate towns
Crested Butte and Mt. Crested Butte are two distinct incorporated towns in Gunnison County, with their own governments and rules, even though their names are nearly the same.
Read note ->History and culture (11)
History and culture
Crested Butte's old town is a coal-era historic district
The core of Crested Butte is a recognized historic district whose false-front wooden buildings date from its days as a coal-mining town with a large immigrant workforce.
Read note ->History and culture
Crystal Mill: the wooden powerhouse on the Crystal River
An 1892 wooden powerhouse perched on a rock outcrop above the Crystal River, in the old mining town of Crystal east of Marble, and one of Colorado's most photographed historic structures.
Read note ->Nearby counties
Other Mountains counties — rules, rates, and districts shift across county lines.