Sierra Madre Ranch

Ranch Description

The Sierra Madre Ranch is located just inside the Medicine Bow National Forest along the Sierra Madre Mountain Range southwest of the small town of Encampment, Wyoming. Consisting of 320 acres with 160 acres irrigated from the Ernest Ditch, the ranch is bordered on two sides by national forest and the other two sides by BLM lands. The ranch has two manmade ponds and three streams including the north and south fork of Miner Creek and Hell Creek. Currently there is a one room restored cabin of 600 sq ft located near the center of the ranch along with some old homestead cabin structures and barns.

The ranch enjoys a nice mix of native grass meadows and intermittent stands of lodge pole pine and aspen groves. Most of the irrigated land is found on moderate slopes and the ranch has water rights for 4.47 cfs which date back to 1918. Elevations range from 7,770 ft where the North Fork of Miner Creek leaves the northeast corner to 8,258 ft in the southwest corner. The ranch is accessed via the Water Valley Road which crosses the northeast corner of the ranch with two track roads leading to the cabins. There is power available on the property and the perimeter of the ranch is fenced in four strand bare wire.

Due to its location and the extensive amount of public land that surrounds Sierra Madre Ranch, there are significant wildlife populations including elk, mule deer, bighorn sheep, moose, antelope and black bear. Portions of the ranch are considered critical winter range for elk and bighorn sheep. In addition there are ever present populations of wild turkey and dusky grouse. Fishing for trout in the area is excellent, brook trout are found in the creeks and beaver ponds on the ranch along with trophy gold metal fishing for brown, rainbow and cutthroat in the nearby Encampment and North Platte Rivers.

Sierra Madre Ranch is located in south-central, Wyoming, 4.1 miles from Encampment just thirty minutes to Saratoga, 1 ½ hours west of Laramie, and 2 hours from Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Some services are available in Encampment with expanded services in Saratoga including the prestigious member’s only Old Baldy Club; offering a championship, 18-hole golf course, blue-ribbon trout fishing and superior accommodations. Just one mile southwest of Saratoga is Shively Field Airport for private jet aircraft which has an 8,800’ x 100’ lighted runway with a Fixed Base Operation providing aviation and jet fuel with NDB and GPS instrument approach systems. Commercial service is available from Denver International Airport, four hours by car or shuttle service from Laramie, Wyoming. Wyoming has some of the most favorable tax and asset protection laws in the nation with no individual state income tax, business income tax or inheritance tax.

Sierra Madre Ranch is a rare find with its location, topography, resources, wildlife and scenic beauty. The ranch is ideal for the sportsman and or conservationist with a perfect opportunity for a Buyer to place this ranch in a conservation easement protecting it for generations with an attractive charitable tax deduction. Whether for a family ranch, hunting getaway or sound land investment, Sierra Madre Ranch is one of those uniquely located ranches that is rarely available.