42070 County Road 129

Description

1,000 acres of forested mountains and open rolling meadows is quiet, private, and a convenient 3 miles to downtown and the famous powder skiing at Steamboat. The ranch shares a 2-mile boundary with the Routt National Forest and BLM. Located in a pleasantly secluded setting, the ranch has 2 access points from the paved county road. The headquarters area is a comfortable 6,800 ft in elevation while the upper reaches of the ranch and the adjacent public land top out at over 8,000 ft. The lower portion of the ranch consists of irrigated meadows on gently rolling hills punctuated by groves of oak brush. The middle elevations are home to spring-fed ponds hidden among large swaths of aspen and fern forests. The higher slopes at the 1.1M-acre national forest consist of rocky outcroppings and pockets of coniferous trees. Numerous ridges and valleys along with the variety of ecosystems within the ranch boundary invite a wide range of birds and mammals. The springs, ponds, tree cover, and terrain on the ranch provide optimal habitat for big game; elk, deer, and bear hunting is very good both on and off of the ranch. The adjacent public land is located in an area that is difficult to reach without private land access. The ranch is modestly improved with 3 residences near the headquarters, a newer luxury hunting cabin near the forest boundary, and plenty of covered storage, barns, sheds, and corrals. It is fenced and cross-fenced with water rights that irrigate the native grass hay meadows. It is suitable as a hidden valley ranch retreat, livestock operation, and hunting ranch; a conservation easement could complement any of these uses. With $200M of improvements complete at the Steamboat ski resort and the growth Colorado is experiencing, this ranch presents the buyer with a unique opportunity to own a very private, unencumbered ranch on the edge of one of the nation's most desirable resort towns.