Lost Trail Ranch

Ranch Description

Lost Trail Ranch represents a once-in-a-lifetime find for a hunter, fisherman, horseman or investor seeking a secluded outdoor paradise in one of the Rockies' most pristine environments. This property now generates up to per week in income as a much-sought-after short-term vacation rental. Located in southwestern Colorado, within and surrounded by the dramatic San Juan Mountains, this 17-acre property features a custom log home, a horse barn, and a private stretch of the Rio Grande River. The property directly borders the Rio Grande National Forest and the Weminuche Wilderness, providing immediate access to endless outdoor recreation high-mountain lakes and streams miles and miles of trails for hiking, horseback riding, or ATV riding and thriving populations of deer, elk, moose and other game, in one of the world's most coveted hunting locations. Lost Trail Ranch is ideally suited as a family or group retreat, a vacation home, or a headquarters for all manner of outdoor excursions. The HomeThe 1,905-Square-Foot log home, completed in 2018, was built from logs harvested directly from the property. Each log was milled on site and custom fit, one by one, to create a tight home that holds heat. Lumber for the Douglas Fir tongue-and-groove floors was sourced from Alamosa, Colorado. Featuring three bedrooms with multiple options for additional sleeping space and two bathrooms, the home has an open-concept floor plan the sizable living room transitions to the dining area and kitchen, with its custom cabinets, two pantries, and a wood cook stove, which is paired with a contemporary gas range/oven. Upstairs, a family room has a newly installed bar, complete with a sink. The home has three decks off the living room, the master bedroom, and the upstairs family room, providing breathtaking views of the Rio Grande, the Weminuche, and the surrounding San Juans. The attached shop provides abundant parking and work space, and could potentially be converted into additional living space the shop floor is prepped for radiant heat. The home also features a metal roof, offering long-lasting protection from the elements. The River A pair of trails leads from the home down to the Rio Grande River, which runs through the southern end of the property, providing private frontage on both the north and south sides of the river. A 100-Foot footbridge with a deck perfect for casting a line or simply relaxing to the sounds of rushing water connects the north and south banks. The owners report that this stretch of river offers outstanding trout fishing, with brook, rainbow and cutthroat on offer. AdventureLost Trail Ranch directly borders the Rio Grande National Forest and the Weminuche Wilderness, and offers private, direct access to the little-traveled Brewster Park Trail, Ute Creek Trail, and numerous unmapped hiking, horseback and game trails. Opportunities for outdoor adventure are seemingly limitless in addition to hunting, fishing, hiking and riding, this ranch is a perfect point of origin for some of North America's best backcountry skiing and snowshoeing. Motorized traffic is not allowed in the Weminuche Wilderness, south of the property, but ATV use is allowed on the national forest to the east of the property. The ranch is located in Colorado's coveted hunting unit 76, one of the Rockies' premier hunting locations, with sizable, healthy herds of trophy elk, deer and bighorn sheep. OutbuildingsThe ranch also features a historic, pre-1940, one-room bunkhouse still comfortably livable, and complete with a wood cook stove dating back to the property's early days as an outfitting operation. There's also a 32x32 horse barn, with a water hydrant. Three additional outbuildings and one shipping container currently used as a tack room stay with the property, as do corral panels, continuous-fencing panels, and the saddle racks built into the shipping container. UtilitiesDesigned for self-sufficiency, Lost Trail Ranch is off-grid, with reliable power generated by six 240-Watt solar panels paired with a 3,500-Watt Outback converter. The 500-Gallon propane tank is owned, not leased, and is included in a sale. The home uses wood heat, a propane-fueled hot-water heater, and satellite internet. In addition, the home benefits from abundant passive solar heat, thanks to numerous south-facing windows which also offer stunning views of the river and neighboring wilderness. Land & WaterLost Trail Ranch has a 345-Foot domestic well permitted for household use, watering livestock and limited irrigation, on record with the state as producing an impressive 12 gpm. The current owners have planted numerous young trees on the property. LocationLost Trail Ranch is at approximately 9,800 feet in elevation, and is located just above the Rio Grande Reservoir dam, and just below the Continental Divide. The town of Creede is about 38 miles east, with South Fork, Del Norte, Monte Vista, Pagosa Springs and Durango and the Durango airport also within easy reach. The Rio Grande Club, with its golf course, is 60 miles east, and the Wolf Creek Ski Area is a 77-mile drive. Denver and Albuquerque are each about a 300-Mile drive.