25203 US HWY 160, Pagosa Springs, CO, 81147

The Dutton Family has nothing on this historic & hidden valley embedded and extending +/- 1.7 miles into the 1.8-million-acre San Juan National Forest made up of +/- 591 acres. Offering privacy beyond belief, Yellow Jacket Creek Ranch is a working cattle ranch and has produced more elk, trophy mule deer, turkey & bear than one can count… On year-round paved access HWY 160, this hidden valley ranch extends almost 2 miles back into the forest providing several locations that are ideal to build your Yellowstone dream home that is hidden from the world. With great water fed by springs, Yellow Jacket Creek runs the entire length of the ranch. Superb hay meadows of feed, with abundant water keeps a great resident population of elk and mule deer, complemented by the major north/ south migration area out of the San Juan Mountains. History abounds with the old stagecoach route to Denver originally set through the ranch, allowing private 2 track access for miles into the forest for exploring with your side by side, horse or ATV. Rock formations frame the ridges, sprinkled with aspen stands, towering ponderosa pine, Gambel’s oak, with willows down along the creek bordered by hay producing meadows. Improvements include 4 historic working barns, a 1940s era ranch house that would make for a great guest or caretaker home- being conveyed as is, where is. A great location has been identified for a spring fed pond, and water rights and minerals rights are not included, but available & negotiable. While not enrolled into any conservation easements, Yellow Jacket Creek Ranch would be an ideal candidate, and is currently enrolled for ranch agriculture status with an estimated tax of +/- $2200. The ranch is in BGU 77/78, with over-the-counter elk tags, and qualifies for a landowner mule deer buck tag. (Always check regs) Located about 1/2 way between Pagosa Springs and Durango, offering great dining, shopping, snow skiing, Walmart’s and Hospitals in each and 30 minutes to the Durango Airport, with direct flights daily to Phoenix, Denver, & Ft Worth /Dallas. Incredible legacy ranch properties surrounded by the national forest are rare to find, and even more difficult to acquire.