4-Way Ranch

4-Way Ranch is 6,033 acres of unencumbered grassland located in the middle of the Colorado Springs MSA between Falcon and Peyton. This is one of the last remaining undeveloped and unencumbered properties of its size along Colorado’s rapidly growing Front Range. The property has extensive water rights and would be ideal for a developer, conservationist, cattleman or land banker.

At 6,033 deeded acres, 4-Way Ranch is one of the last remaining undeveloped and unencumbered properties of its size along Colorado’s rapidly growing Front Range.  The property is mostly open, Colorado prairie traversed by the Black Squirrel Creek drainage. Elevations range from 6,500 to 7,100 feet. The property is 100% encircled by residential, civic and retail development, yet the land itself remains quiet, wild, untouched, and unspoiled by its surroundings.

Location

The property is situated between Peyton and Falcon, Colorado, just east of Black Forest within the Colorado Springs MSA. This property is situated along the north side of US Highway 24 and is more or less bisected east and west by Elbert County Road.

Improvements

The ranch is modestly improved with an older (1910) serviceable three-bedroom, two-bathroom home. Outbuildings include an older barn and a 30×70 steel shop (1989) with concrete floor. The ranch is perimeter and pasture fenced, and includes older cattle facilities.

Climate

This area of southern Colorado enjoys a relatively mild climate in both summer and winter months.

• Average rainfall – 19″
• Average snowfall – 60″
• Average January low temperature is 14° Fahrenheit
• Average July high temperature is 82° Fahrenheit

Hunting

The ranch boasts good populations of antelope. Hunters generally harvest around 10 antelope bucks per year.

Water Rights

This offering includes 500 acre feet of high-value water rights from the Denver Basin Aquifers.

Ranch Operations

4-Way Ranch will accommodate 200 pair in normal moisture years. The ranch is well watered with a mix of windmills, natural spring fed ponds, and dirt tanks.

Conservation Value

4-Way is completely surrounded by residential, civic and retail development. The ranch is not currently subject to any restrictive encumbrances. It is indeed a blank canvas for either the conservationist or the developer.

The ecosystem of 4-Way is unique in that the mix of grasses is more akin to the Midwestern tallgrass prairie (True Prairie) than it is the ubiquitous Colorado shortgrass Prairie. This tallgrass prairie complex only exists in four small areas of the state. An extensive 2011 Colorado College study of the ranch grasses and wetlands indicates the ranch is “significant for its numerous rare or uncommon species…as well as for its unique remaining prairies with clear affiliation to their geographically and temporally distant cousins” (Midwestern tallgrass prairies).