With the summer fishing season in high gear, Elk Creek Ranch is ready for its residents to come and explore all it has to offer. Join Haley as she sits down with Mirr Broker Harry Woodward to discuss what’s new at Elk Creek Ranch.
From 15,000 acres of deeded land and 30 miles of private fishing access, Elk Creek Ranch serves as a haven for residents looking to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life for a more peaceful experience in the great outdoors. Throughout their conversation, Haley and Harry discuss the benefits of owning property on Elk Creek Ranch, what potential buyers can expect, and what opportunities owners can explore on this expansive property. They also dive into a quick speed round with Harry on the summer, fly fishing, and his favorite snacks on a day out.
Whether you’re considering buying a property or just curious about what makes this ranch so special, tune in to hear all about the incredible offerings at Elk Creek Ranch, and why it’s the ultimate destination for fly fishing enthusiasts and nature lovers alike.
Topics
[1:11] Introduction to Elk Creek Ranch
[3:28] Fishing experience and stream management
[7:24] Typical day at ECR
[10:25] Different areas to fish
[14:43] Current listing and client feedback
[17:50] Broker speed round: Fly fishing with Harry Woodward
Haley (00:06):
Welcome back to the Land Bulletin Podcast, where every other week we bring you experts in the field to impart their knowledge when it comes to the ranch and sporting property market, buying and selling advice, the latest best stewardship practices, as well as topics that impact landowners every day. I’m your host, Haley Mirr. Let’s jump in.
Runoff is at an all time high, which means fishing season is upon us. Today we dive into one of our elite fishing offerings, Elk Creek Ranch. Helping me out today is Harry Woodward, one of the listing agents representing our clients at Elk Creek Ranch. Harry is one of our fly fishing property experts and guided for many years. He knows how Elk Creek Ranch compares to other fly fishing properties and why this is a preeminent fishing club in Colorado. Without further ado, welcome Harry. Thanks for joining us today.
Harry Woodward (00:54):
Yeah, thanks for having me.
Haley (00:56):
So you’ve been working on Elk Creek Ranch now for almost two years. Before we go into the specifics, can you give us an overview of Elk Creek Ranch and how this is maybe a little bit different than other properties that people think of when they think of ranches?
Harry Woodward (01:12):
Yeah, so Elk Creek’s original concept was to become the preeminent private fly fishing ranch in the Western US, and they’ve been successful in doing that. Over the years, they’ve continued to add on additional deeded property, expand the fishing while still maintaining only 65 owners. Right now they control 15,000 acres of deeded land, 30 miles of private fly fishing, and then an additional 15,000 acres controlled through lease or easement for fishing and hunting.
Haley (01:44):
Wow. And with that, it’s 65 owners. How does that work with ownership? I know there’s an HOA. Is there a buy-in from all the owners of how the property is ran? How does that work as an owner?
Harry Woodward (02:00):
Yeah, so it functions essentially as an HOA. You buy a lot and lots are about an acre in size. You have four different options there. So if you want to own a lot down by the river, we sell river lots. We have lots up on the bench, which sit overlooking the White River, which runs through the property. We have village lots, which are just right there by the fly shop lodge. And then mountain lots are a 10-minute drive from the ranch headquarters and offer a little bit more seclusion. So from an ownership perspective, you have an option as far as where you would potentially want to build, but there’s no requirement to build up there. So there’s only 12 homes on the property, but they’re 65 lots of the development. Oh, wow.
Haley (02:47):
So people are really buying in for the fishing component, not necessarily to build their dream house.
Harry Woodward (02:52):
Yeah. I mean, I think that for a lot of our owners up there, the guest cabins on the ranch have been sufficient. I think there’s 11 total bedrooms there on the ranch. So when 80% of our members come and visit, they’re just staying in those guest cabins.
Haley (03:09):
Got it. Okay, so now going more into the fishing piece, you mentioned 30 miles of river, which is incredible.
Harry Woodward (03:18):
Yeah, it’s unbelievable.
Haley (03:19):
What is the fishing experience like at ECR? What makes it so different than any other kind of fishing experience you might find on just a private deeded ground?
Harry Woodward (03:28):
Yeah, I mean, I think that up there, there’s so much variety of water, and so you see fishing properties come on the market and maybe there’s two miles of river and you’re going to spend $5 million, $10 million for just a small stretch. And up there, the price point’s a lot lower for 30 miles, like you said, is pretty unprecedented. So I think Elk Creek provides a great alternative to standalone ranch ownership too, because you don’t have to deal with any ownership burden. The managers and the fishing guides manage it for you. It’s plug and play. You just kind of show up and the whole place is ready to go and meticulously managed by the staff that they have up there.
Haley (04:11):
Awesome. And is part of the management stream restoration and improving the river or is that not a part of the overall management plan of the HOA?
Harry Woodward (04:22):
Yeah, definitely. I mean, they are always managing the fishery, cutting out while I was trying to open up more river up there. I think the one thing that stands out to me about the way that they manage the place is they are really meticulous about how they manage pressure. So there’s a beat system, I think there’s 24 total beats, and those beats are allocated for a half a day of fishing. And so they can really spread pressure out up there and not be hammering the same water over and over again, which is just great for the fish population. They’re super healthy.
Haley (04:56):
So for those listening who might not know what a beat is, can you give us a little layman’s
Harry Woodward (05:03):
Terms? So a beat would be a section of stream. So they kind of range and they’re designed for two people for a half day is how they allocate the distance of river. So they just chop up their sections and you’re getting ready to go out with a guide and he’s going to put you on buckles A stretch. So that’ll be the section that you fish for the morning.
Haley (05:30):
Okay, great. And how many guides are up there at Elk Creek Ranch to be able to handle all these?
Harry Woodward (05:35):
Full time they have five, and then in the summer they’ll have two or three that come in as kind of extra help. But it’s really awesome because those guides that are there, they’re full-time and Elk Creek’s the only place that they’re guiding. So they really are knowledgeable on the rivers and the access and they’re all local guys. So they’re all meeker residents who have been guiding for 10, 15, 20 plus years, some of whom have been with the property since before it was even developed into what it is today.
Haley (06:07):
And I know you just started working on it, but do you know if there’s been a big difference in the health of the stream since it started, since these guides have been there and the stream restoration has happened?
Harry Woodward (06:19):
Yeah, I think that they’ve, as 65 owners are now up there using it, they really stress spreading pressure out, like I’ve mentioned, and they’re able to do that because of the amount of access that they have. You see other properties in the shared ranch space that are touting private water, they might have five miles or whatever. Elk Creek has 30, so they’re really able to spread that pressure out. And during peak season in the middle of the summer between end of June and middle of September, call it, they aren’t fishing the same beat twice in one day. So it just keeps the place pristine and it keeps the fish happy.
Haley (07:01):
Yeah, it lets the river kind of breathe a little bit.
Harry Woodward (07:03):
Yeah, they let it rest.
Haley (07:05):
So I know you’ve been up there a lot with showings. It’s definitely a hot ticket item here at Myrtle Ranch Group. When owners go up there, what is a typical day in the life of fishing at Elk Creek? You wake up, you have breakfast at the lodge, walk us through what that looks like.
Harry Woodward (07:24):
Yeah, so either you’re staying in your house that you’ve built or you’re staying in one of the cabins, sign up the night before, let the outfitting manager how many will be in your group, and then usually those trips will take off at 9:00 AM after you’ve had breakfast. You can do whatever you want really. If you want to get up early, you can do that or you want to have a mellow morning. But yeah, you’ll have breakfast and then the Outfitter Center right there is just across the street from where you’re going to have breakfast and then you’ll hop in a suburban and they’ll take you to whichever beat you’ve requested or wherever they think is going to be good.
Haley (08:03):
Lunch is provided, all the stuff?
Harry Woodward (08:05):
Yeah, so you can either come back to the lodge for lunch, which is always the food up there is incredible. Chef John does an excellent job. Or if you wanted to do a full day and have a stream side lunch, they can cater to that too. One thing that they’ve started doing in the last couple summers is doing horse pack trips up into the national forest. So there’s some really cool alpine lakes. If you wanted to do a full day, kind of rough it, get on a horse and hike up to some high alpine lakes, it’s really cool opportunity there too.
Haley (08:38):
And all of these things are really just available to members at Elk Creek. This isn’t
Harry Woodward (08:42):
Something
Haley (08:43):
If you’re kind of a neighbor or something like this, this is explicit.
Harry Woodward (08:46):
No, it’s just members and their guests, which is pretty incredible. The 30 miles is just unprecedented amount of access for just 65 people. Like you said, it’s just for members.
Haley (08:59):
I mean, this might be a pretty obvious question, but what is the benefit of having a guide instead of just going out there and fishing yourselves? Because I know at Elk Creek, and let me know if I’m wrong here, but you have to have a guide if you’re going to fish along the White River and everything like that. What’s the benefit of that?
Harry Woodward (09:20):
So the fishing, a lot of it is satellite to the main ranch. So there’s about six miles of river that are right there on the white at main Elk Creek Ranch, we call it, that you can fish without a guide. But outside of that, you’re driving up or down to a controlled piece of property through lease or easement that they want to control those with guides so an owner isn’t going and getting on some guy’s ranch and doesn’t know his way around. But I always say that I used to guide and I would always prefer to fish with a guide. It’s just a much more fun experience and those guys know the place so well that it’s to your advantage to use one always, I think. And the other thing up there is that those guys just know it so well. They’ve been there for 30.
(10:12):
One of the guides that I usually stay with when I’m doing my showings has been guiding on the white in Meeker for 30 years. So it’s pretty special to be able to spend time on the water with a guy who’s been doing it for that long.
Haley (10:25):
Yeah, for sure. And with 30 miles, it seems like there’s probably some sections that are better than others. How different is the river from section to section?
Harry Woodward (10:36):
Yeah, so there’s kind of three main fisheries there. You have Elk Creek, which is kind of a classic small water, little bit higher alpine, has a steep grade. You can still catch some big fish in there, but it’s kind of a small water fishery. And then the White River, the main stretch that they fish the most up there is just a classic Colorado Freestone fishery, big fish. They’ve got a lot of great beats and great sections that they’ve done stream work to keep fish where they know they’re going to be. And then the South Fork of the White on the YZ Ranch, which is one of the major leases that Elk Creek holds, is very technical Spring Creek fishing where they 95% dry fly only. You can’t fish. The same beat does not get fished two days in a row, so they rest it for a day in between every time it’s been fished.
(11:29):
That to me is kind of the crown jewel of the property. You get some of the pure strain cutthroats in the state of Colorado. Colorado Parks and Wildlife did a study up there a couple years ago and it’s big wild fish on dry flies, so that’s kind of the more technical side of it. There’s really something for everyone. I mean, I think you could take someone who’s never fished a day in their life and get them on a great big rainbow right there on the white, and then you could take someone who’s fished everywhere in the world and take them to the South Fork of the White and some of the best technical dry fly fishing I’ve seen on a private property.
Haley (12:07):
That’s awesome. And for people who aren’t big fishermen, what kind of other activities? I know Elk Creek has a lot of other things. You talked about the hunting lease and stuff like that. What are some of the other activities up there?
Harry Woodward (12:17):
Yeah, so the elk hunting is huge in the fall. The recent purchase of the Seven Lakes Ranch, which used to be owned by Greg Norman in 2022, has really expanded that hunting program. They added another 12,000 acres of deeded property. So the elk hunting is pretty incredible. The success rates are incredibly high, and so that’s kind of where everyone’s focus shifts in the fall. But say you’re up there in the summer and you don’t want to go fish all day, they have an epic 18 hole sporting clays course that was also a part of that Seven Lakes property. It’s gorgeous up there. It overlooks the river. And then like I mentioned, they have horseback riding, so if you wanted to go do just a trail ride, that’s totally an option. And the trail systems that they have for hunting up there are epic hiking trails during the summertime.
(13:06):
So a lot of people will hop on a side-by-side, go up to a high elevation trail and just hike around for the day.
Haley (13:13):
Going back to the fishing, when is the peak time for fishing up at Elk Creek? I was just up in Gateway this past week and we went through rifle and the rivers are way high. A little scary. They’re rushing right now.
Harry Woodward (13:29):
Yeah, so the peak season for fishing would be the end of June, when runoff ends is how they define it, which is obviously different every year when you’re dealing with the freestone fishery without controlled flow. So that’s kind of up to the ranch manager to decide when he starts to define peak season, but it usually runs from the end of June to the middle of September.
Haley (13:52):
And so is that kind of the peak time where everyone kind of comes to Elk Creek? When is it peak
Harry Woodward (13:58):
Season? Yeah, definitely. I think that most of the people that are wanting to spend time up there, they come during the middle of the summer. But that being said, there’s so much. You can have the place to yourself in March and April, even February, and catch those spring days before runoff starts where the fishing can just be epic. And then the same thing goes for the fall, late September through October, you’ll get a bunch of really nice days and been up there on showings where we’re the only people on the entire ranch in those, we call it shoulder seasons.
Haley (14:32):
How many properties. I know we’ve been working on Elk Creek Ranch for almost 10 years now.
Harry Woodward (14:39):
Yeah, eight years.
Haley (14:40):
How many listings do you guys have right now?
Harry Woodward (14:43):
We have seven up there right now. We’ve got a lot of inventory and that’s good for buyers because they have options on their lots. I think it’s easier for them to make a distinction, whereas if we were to have three listings, their choices are a lot less limited with the amount of inventory that we have right now. And
Haley (15:05):
The clients that you have worked with, because I know it’s been a few, what has their overall experience been after buying into Elk Creek Ranch? What have their comments been about the fishing, about the service, all of the different kind of aspects?
Harry Woodward (15:20):
Yeah, I mean, I think it starts with our showing. 90% of the time we’ll get our buyer clients on the river for a day, which is a great way to sell a lot because they go out and they have an epic day fishing and kind of sells itself that way. But a lot of our newer members, newer owners, their plan is to feel it out for a year and decide if they want to build a house or not. Like I said, just make use of the cabins up there, maybe go four times and do fishing trips and then feel it out from there to see if they want to move forward with building a house. But all of our feedback has been incredibly positive. The management up there is very welcoming and all the other. It’s a very social club. You go up in the middle of the summer and there’s eight other families in the lodge for dinner.
(16:09):
They’re all really excited to have new faces around. So all of our feedback from new owners has been incredibly positive.
Haley (16:16):
And I feel like it’s nice too, it’s very similar, probably like-minded buyers buy into
(16:22):
Something like this because if you’re going to spend your money on an opportunity like this, you’re going to be around people who have that same kind of ethos of wanting to explore and fish and be outside. So it’s probably a pretty cool group of people that have decided to invest up there.
Harry Woodward (16:38):
Yeah, definitely. And it’s cool because they’re from all over the country. We get owners from New York, California, Texas, South Carolina, so they are people whose paths probably haven’t crossed before, and they all have this like-minded mindset with a passion for the outdoors, and that’s why they’re there.
Haley (16:59):
I know you said you’ve actually never had the chance to fish up there yet, but what have you heard about the size of fish? Give me a.
Harry Woodward (17:08):
I mean, we’ve had some clients up there that have got their lifetime size trout in their first day of fishing and their two hours that they get to go fish. It’s pretty cool to go out and watch them interact with the guides and then hook up on a monster. They see why all the other members are there pretty immediately.
Haley (17:28):
Yeah. It makes you feel like a really good fisherman no matter who you are.
Harry Woodward (17:34):
That’s what you know. Yeah. And like I said, they cater to anglers of any skill level up there. You can have never touched a fly rod before and go out and have an epic day and catch a bunch of fish or be an expert and go want to challenge yourself on some difficult technical water.
Haley (17:55):
So now, Hair, we’re going to do some rapid fire questions to see your fly fishing knowledge and to get
Harry Woodward (18:06):
Some
Haley (18:07):
Further expertise from one of our best fly fishing guides on the team. Okay, so early morning or late evening fishing, which do you prefer?
Harry Woodward (18:17):
Late evening.
Haley (18:19):
Okay. Why that? Just because of the light,
Harry Woodward (18:24):
All that stuff? Yeah, I feel like I’ve had so many experiences on a late evening float getting in right before the sun goes down, and that’s always kind of when stuff starts to go right. You can have a horrible day and then have a great last 30 minutes right before dark. Yeah, it’s been some fun memories of my dad and my brother, my buddies fishing. It always seems to be the half hour before it gets dark.
Haley (18:48):
I love that. A little sundowner. What’s your go-to snack while out on the river? And beer can be an answer.
Harry Woodward (18:57):
Uncrustables. And beer.
Haley (18:59):
Uncrustables. Okay, perfect. Best fishing advice you’ve ever received?
Harry Woodward (19:07):
You got to just learn how to have fun when it’s tough because it’s not always going to be easy and learning to just enjoy where you are, enjoy the setting, even when the fishing’s tough is always important.
Haley (19:20):
You got to teach that to my dad. There’s been times where he hasn’t got a thing and just loses it, so that’s great advice. What’s one piece of gear you can’t fish without?
Harry Woodward (19:31):
Fishing rod.
Haley (19:34):
It’s good. You can also plug a company if you want.
Harry Woodward (19:40):
Yeah, fish fond. I feel like anything fish fond, I’ve always got six things on me.
Haley (19:45):
Yeah, I like their coloring. I’m not as avid as you. Favorite non-fishing activity to do on a ranch?
Harry Woodward (19:54):
I love just poking around on a four-wheeler and exploring two track roads. That’s really fun to me, being able to get to places that you can’t otherwise on a side-by-side.
Haley (20:05):
Yeah, and it’s crazy what those things can go over.
Harry Woodward (20:09):
Oh, yeah.
Haley (20:10):
Do you have a fishing superstition or ritual that you abide by?
Harry Woodward (20:16):
No.
Haley (20:19):
Favorite season for fly fishing?
Harry Woodward (20:21):
I love fishing in the fall. I think when the colors are popping and the fall, the browns always get really colored up as they’re getting ready to spawn, and yeah, fall is definitely my favorite.
Haley (20:32):
Yeah. It’s also too hot sometimes in the summer. It’s
Harry Woodward (20:37):
Nice to get in the road, but sometimes get too much. The trout kind of get tired after a hot July and August, and then they kind of wake back up again in the fall a little bit. So
Haley (20:46):
Yeah,
Harry Woodward (20:46):
It’s my favorite time to fish.
Haley (20:47):
So you’re there when they wake up.
Harry Woodward (20:49):
Exactly.
Haley (20:50):
That’s your thing. Okay. And how do you celebrate after a great day of fishing?
Harry Woodward (20:55):
Definitely with the Coors Light.
Haley (20:58):
There you go. That was perfect. Well, thanks, Harry, for coming on The Land Bulletin today. It was fun to hear about Elk Creek Ranch and to hear about your fly fishing adventures. I’ve had the chance to come up to Elk Creek a few times, haven’t had the chance to fish it yet, but it really is the preeminent place that you guys have been marketing for years in a really incredible way to own land and to be a rancher without having to manage it and to worry about a lot of the things because the service is there. It’s really an incredible spot.
Harry Woodward (21:31):
Yeah, it’s amazing. Like I said, it’s a perfect alternative for a lot of the buyers that we see come through. They’ll go visit massive standalone ranches and realize the management burden and all the things you mentioned are just not an issue on a place like Elk Creek, so it’s a special
Haley (21:48):
Property. Yeah, it’s really special. And for those of you who are listening who are interested in learning more, Harry Woodward and Daniel Carter are listing all of the Elk Creek Ranch properties, so please reach out to them if you have questions. Like Harry said, there’s a couple listed, so you have a plethora of options to choose from, whether you want to be closer to the lodge, closer to the river, in the mountains with a little bit more privacy, the world is your oyster. So give us a call whenever you can, and then thanks again, Harry, for coming on the show.
Harry Woodward (22:16):
Yeah, no problem. Enjoy it.
Haley (22:19):
See you guys next time.
Thanks for joining us today. To learn more about the ranch real estate market or our ranch marketing process, make sure to subscribe to our newsletter on our website at mirrranchgroup.com or give us a call at 303-623-4545. See you next time.
