Redstone Reserve at Horsetooth

Redstone Reserve at Horsetooth is currently a raw, wild, scenic landscape, but it can be your family getaway, your own 835± acre private “backyard” within fifteen minutes of bustling Fort Collins/Loveland Colorado and the northern Front Range communities. Largely surrounded by protected Larimer County open space lands, Redstone Reserve is also sheltered behind a dramatic caprock-crowned mesa that separates the property from the sea of development in the nearby metro area, providing the ranch with an awe-inspiring backdrop and a remote, canyon country feel, yet with close-in proximity to Horsetooth Reservoir and perennial “Best Towns of the West” list-maker Fort Collins.

This serene setting is less than ninety minutes to Denver and DIA, and twenty to the private Northern Colorado Airport outside Loveland CO. Owned by the same family for over seventy years, the mostly undeveloped, raw piece of ground is home to the seasonal Redstone Creek, its healthy cottonwood-lined, riparian corridor, rocky outcrops, and expansive, rolling, grasslands with Horsetooth Mountain looming overhead.

Easily accessible off a maintained county road in the Redstone/Buckhorn area between Masonville and Fort Collins/Loveland, the Reserve at Horsetooth would be a rollicking, sporting ranch estate for an adventurous family who wants to design their own custom mountain compound in a magnificent setting close to town, while potentially mountain biking, hiking, and horseback riding on the spacious ranch. A Larimer County conservation easement allows for two large new homes with accessory buildings/barns in two designated areas, with one future division of the property.

This 837±-acres of rolling grasslands, rock outcroppings, and big views sits in a north-south oriented valley behind hogbacks and mesas that separate this rural area from the nearby sea of development in the northern reaches of Denver metro area suburbia. This part of Larimer County just west of Fort Collins, Loveland, and Horsetooth Reservoir is home to many large expanses of preserved land where residents and tourists hike, bike, and explore the Rocky Mountain foothills. The small hamlet of Masonville is a couple of miles from The Reserve. Dispersed subdivisions, horse properties, and estates dot the landscape here and there. For some folks these are summer homes, for others, they are primary homes and they commute to work at nearby tech jobs or at CSU. The Reserve is one of the larger properties in this area, where a family can build a large, new residence, guest house, barns, and other structures in a magnificent setting.

Improvements

The existing residence is a small 1,100-square-foot cabin and is mainly used only in the summer. There are also old barn and corral structures. All of these humble, old improvements will likely be replaced or restored/enlarged by a new owner. The CE allows for a large new residence upwards of 10,000 sq ft to replace this one in the same, general, designated area. Accessory buildings and non-residential, ag structures can also be built anew, with square footage limitations described in the CE. Contact the agent for details.

Locale

Some of the fastest-growing communities in the nation are located in the busy I-25 corridor north of Denver in Larimer and Weld Counties. The Redstone Reserve is an oasis in the hustle and bustle and holds the potential to be one of the top preserve/estates in the area, as its homesites and associated lands are unmatched for a recreationally-oriented residential setting close to a metro area. The area is largely rural, with some dispersed subdivisions and some large horse ranches and hamlets with historic cabins. The area is a priority for Larimer County Open Space and private landowners and recreationists benefit from this investment, with viewsheds and quiet largely preserved.

Climate

This portion of northern Colorado in the Big Thompson/Poudre drainages is sometimes known as a “banana belt” within Colorado’s populated Front Range, as its lower elevation sitting in the leeward side of some of the largest peaks in the Rockies (such as 14’er Longs Peak in nearby Rocky Mountain National Park) means it can be milder and drier than other parts of Colorado. This means the property experiences a very comfortable four-season climate with an estimated 250-300 days of sunshine a year and snows that typically melt quickly in the winter.

Fort Collins/Loveland Weather Highlights

• Summer High: the July high is around 87 degrees
• Winter Low: the January low is 15
• Rain: averages 16 inches of rain a year
• Snow: averages 48 inches of snow a year

Numerous elk, deer, bear, and turkey roam this property. “Passive,” non-motorized recreation such as hunting, horseback riding, hiking, and mountain biking are allowed on The Redstone Reserve per its conservation easement. Trails for the latter activities do not currently exist but construction of them are allowed with the County’s approval of plans.

Ranch Operations

In terms of agriculture, the property’s rolling grassland and shrublands have historically been used for cattle grazing over the summer months by a local lessee.

Water Rights

The existing residence possesses a well for drinking water and domestic use. The second reserved building envelope would need to permit and drill a new well.

Mineral Rights

The current owner does not own the minerals on the property, however, because of the ranch’s associated conservation easement, a Minerals Report was undertaken that shows the possibility of commercial mining on the property to be so remote as to be negligible.