Tabernash is an unincorporated town, a post office, and a census-designated place (CDP) located in and governed by Grand County, Colorado, United States. The Tabernash post office has the ZIP Code 80478. The community has the name of a Ute Indian.

1984 airplane crash

On August 10, 1984, a Cessna L-19 Bird Dog (registration , piloted by 36-year-old James Jeb Caddell, crashed in the Arapaho National Forest near Tabernash while it was en route from Granby to Jeffco Airport. Despite the efforts of a search party, the two men could not be located at first, partly because the plane had flipped over and landed on its Emergency Locator Transmitter, destroying it. The wreckage was found by backpackers three years later on August 23, 1987.

A 6½ minute video shot from a VHS camcorder mounted on the instrument panel was found at the site. The heavily damaged tape, some of it hanging from tree branches, was recovered and repaired by Colorado deputy sheriff Dale Wood. Subsequent analysis of the footage revealed that the pilot had not taken into account the density altitude conditions that existed on the day of the flight. The aircraft was unable to climb away from steadily rising terrain. In an attempt to return to the departure airfield, the pneumatic stall warning of the airplane sounded three times during a turn to the right. The pilot could be heard yelling "Damn, hang on Ronnie!" to his one backseat passenger, 36-year-old Ronald Hugh Wilmond, three seconds before impacting the terrain and trees.

The Caddells had put a 20-year moratorium (via the FAA) on the release of the film to the general public with the only stipulation that it (at the FAA's request to the Caddells) be shown only to flight instructors at conventions and workshops. The moratorium eventually expired and was not renewed, and thus the footage became part of the public domain. The video is now viewable on YouTube.

Geography

Tabernash is located in the valley of the Fraser River. U.S. Route 40 passes through the community, leading northwest to Granby and southeast to Winter Park.

The Tabernash CDP has an area of , all land.

Demographics

<!-- As of the census of 2000, there were 165 people, 72 households, and 38 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 103 housing units at an average density of 25.5 per square mile (9.8/km). The racial makeup of the CDP was 96.36% White, 1.21% African American, 0.61% Native American, 0.61% Asian, 0.61% from other races, and 0.61% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.82% of the population.

There were 72 households, out of which 25.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.2% were married couples living together, 4.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 47.2% were non-families. 26.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 2.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 3.03.

In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 24.2% under the age of 18, 4.2% from 18 to 24, 47.3% from 25 to 44, 18.2% from 45 to 64, and 6.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 123.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 140.4 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $40,179, and the median income for a family was $12,411. Males had a median income of $36,250 versus $24,750 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $20,485. About 51.1% of families and 27.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.6% of those under the age of eighteen and 100.0% of those 65 or over.

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The United States Census Bureau initially defined the for the

See also

  • Arapaho National Forest

References

  • Tabernash @ Colorado.com
  • Tabernash @ UncoverColorado.com
  • Grand County website