WindowSash Ranch

The 1,920 total acre WindowSash Ranch is a scenic family cattle ranch located 40 miles (35 minutes) north of Alamosa, Colorado in Saguache County between the friendly towns of Center and Saguache, Colorado. Situated in a highly productive agricultural zone, the ranch is a verdant sub-irrigated grassland that has operated as a 200-head cow-calf operation for more than 35 years. Graced with stunning views of the spectacular Sangre de Cristo range to the east, and the understated La Garita Range to the west, WindowSash Ranch is a productive hay and cattle operation in a lovely bucolic setting.

Several photographs of WindowSash Ranch are taken by Camera Head Media.

Improvements

There are two active residences on the ranch: a 1,600 sq. ft. historic homestead in the main ranch headquarters, and a separate 1,640 sq. ft. residence with an attached garage. The main ranch headquarters include a guest cabin, garage, shop and tool shed, six-bay calving barn, insulated club-calf cooling shed, feed bunks, and a full set of working pens. Electric utility service is provided by San Luis Valley Rural Electric Coop.

Location

WindowSash Ranch is only 10 minutes from both Saugache and Center, Colorado, and is a short thirty-five-minute drive north of Alamosa, Colorado. The impressive Sangre de Cristo Range and the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve lie east of the ranch and the La Garita Range lies to the west.

Locale

Set in the heart of the San Luis Valley in southern Colorado, the ranch is 2.5 hours southwest of the Denver metro area. Salida and Alamosa are
both within a thirty-five-minute drive of the ranch. Both towns offer all services, including hospitals, grocery stores, Walmart, hotels, and restaurants. The San Luis Valley Airport in Alamosa offers commercial air service with daily nonstop flights to and from Denver and Albuquerque, NM.

Climate

• Average annual precipitation: 50.0 inches
• Average July temperatures: High 85°, Low 52°
• Average January temperatures: High 45°, Low 10°
• Days of sunshine per year: 300+

Recreation

Located between the Sangre de Cristo Mountains (San Isabel National Forest) and the La Garita Range (Rio Grande Nationa Forest), the San Luis Valley is an ideal location for outdoor enthusiasts, offering an incredible array of activities with easy/immediate access to the mountains and hundreds of miles of National Forest and BLM lands in all directions. Numerous trailheads for hiking, world-class mountain biking, horseback riding, kayaking and rafting, cross country skiing, hunting, and fishing are all part of the vibrant activities available in and around the area. World-class skiing at both Wolf Creek Resort and Ski Monarch are both equidistant from the ranch and a short hour’s drive. The Rio Grande River is less than half an hour away and is renowned for the excellent fishing, and thrilling white water rafting, with outfitters and guides located in Del Norte and South Fork.

Hunting

The four ponds and wetlands on the ranch provide excellent habitat for waterfowl and the duck hunting can be quite good. Other than the occasional deer or pronghorn, there is minimal opportunity for big game hunting on the ranch but qualifies for landowner preference tags in Game Management Unit 68/682. GMU 68 offers excellent elk, mule deer, and turkey hunting ten miles west of the ranch in BLM and USFS lands.

Ranch Operations

Acquired in the early 1970s, the property has always served as a working cattle ranch, and supports upwards of 200 AUMs (160 mother cows and 40 replacement heifers) year-round. There are five main paddocks, two meadow pastures, and a bull catch for a total of eight pastures for rotational grazing. In addition to the residences described above, the main ranch headquarters include a garage, shop, and tool shed, six-bay calving barn, insulated club-calf cooling shed, feed bunks, and a full set of working pens. The ranch is perimeter and interior fenced with five-wire barbed wire and is serviced by typical two-track ranch roads.

Water Rights

In addition to decreed rights to 2.5 cfs in the Harney Ditch, the ~ 115 acres of irrigated hay ground on WindowSash Ranch is served by a 4,000 ga/min deep aquifer well and more than a dozen decreed livestock wells and springs.

Hay Ground

The ranch has ~115 acres of flood irrigated hay ground which on average produces between 230 and 285 tons on a normal year (single cutting). Irrigation water primarily comes from the WSSR Well No.1 well, @ 4,000 ga/min, serviced by a 75 hp electric pump.

Conservation Values

An important working lands, open space, and wildlife legacy property, WindowSash Ranch lies just south of an existing Ducks Unlimited Conservation Easement and is an attractive conservation opportunity for a motivated investor.