The Gates Ranch – Colorado Mountain Legacy Ranch

The Gates Ranch – A Colorado Legacy Hunting, Cattle, & Horse Ranch 

Property Assets at a Glance:

• 744 total acres, 340 acres irrigated
• 2 homes
  • 3,039 sq ft – 6 bed, 2 bath 
  • 1,158 sq ft – 3 bed, 1 bath
• High-producing water well
• Multiple outbuildings & corrals
• Extensive senior water rights
• Productive Hay Fields
• Excellent elk & deer hunting
• 3-acre trout fishing lake
• Between Vail & Steamboat Springs
• Wilderness and National Forest access nearby
• Cattle ranch & hunting ranch

Legacy Hunting and Cattle Ranch for Sale in the Colorado Rockies

Situated on a high mesa above the majestic Colorado River, the Gates Ranch is a Colorado legacy ranch that sprawls across a stunning landscape of canyons, hayfields, bucolic mountain pastures, and high wilderness peaks. Patented under the Homestead Act in the late 1880’s, the Gates Ranch has supported five generations of the same family and has never before been offered for sale. The ranch is located about an hour north of Vail and 1.5 hours southwest of Steamboat Springs.

A Versatile Central Colorado Ranch with Recreation, Hunting, Hay and Cattle Production

The Gates Ranch has a wonderful combination of assets that make it a truly pleasurable place to be. The ranch covers 744 acres, of which approximately 340 acres are irrigated hay meadows that produce about 250 tons of hay annually. It has a good set of improvements, including a modest but cozy log ranch home and a charming historic log bunkhouse that can sleep 12. The ranch is capable of supporting about 100 head of cattle year-round. The north side of the ranch gives way to a rimrock canyon that drops precipitously into Derby Creek, which is a free-flowing Colorado mountain trout stream.

Charming Improvements on this Colorado Cattle and Hunting Ranch

With its homesteading patent date clear back in the late 1880’s, the Gates Ranch has a long history reflected by common-sense useful improvements. The original ranch house now serves as a bunkhouse during hunting season. With a spacious 3,039 square feet, it has 3 bedrooms and a bath downstairs, three bedrooms and one bath upstairs and can sleep up to 12. It is rustic and cozy, with a large country kitchen and an enclosed porch decorated by old cowboy hats and ropes. The interior is warm and inviting and furnished with ranch-appropriate décor. Also a log home, the main house is smaller at 1,158 square feet, with three bedrooms and one bath. There are several outbuildings, including two recent metal shop buildings, as well as corrals and loading chutes. 

Superb Senior Water Rights on this Colorado Mountain Ranch for Sale

The Gates Ranch has stunning water rights, beginning with a priority decree of 15 cubic feet per second of Derby Creek provided by the Rogers Ditch and South Derby Ditch. Those ditches have an amazing history, as early settlers went through quite an ordeal to bring water across to Derby Mesa. In addition to the massive ditch right, the ranch has several adjudicated springs, which forefather Bud Gates used as the source of water to feed a beautiful 3-acre lake on the north side of the ranch. The water rights have been extensively researched by some of Colorado’s best water attorneys, and all decrees and adjudications are in order. The two homes are served by a high-producing well that gushes clean, clear water.

Excellent Hunting and Fishing on The Gates Ranch—Elk, Mule Deer, Bear, Trout in GMU 25

Derby Canyon, on the north side of the ranch, provides excellent big game habitat for elk and mule deer, resulting in excellent hunting opportunities. The open meadows of mountain grasses and alfalfa provide an alluring feed source for big game herds, while the canyon offers excellent cover and bedding habitat. Owner Kip Gates has been outfitting a slate of up to 24 elk hunters a year on the property with excellent success. Typically the ranch receives 2-3 priority landowner mule deer tags each year, and Merriam’s turkeys abound on the property. The three-acre lake in Derby Canyon is deep enough to overwinter trout, and there are some lunker German browns and rainbows in the lake. It’s a favorite spot for friends and family to gather round, have a picnic, and catch fish on a warm summer day. Elk hunters can buy over-the-counter tags for second and third rifle season, and archery, muzzleloader, and first and fourth rifle season tags are an easy draw.

National Forest Access and the Flattops Wilderness Area Are Just Up the Road

For the adventure seeker who likes to ride horseback, hike, or otherwise explore, the Gates Ranch is only a mile south of National Forest lands. The Flattops Wilderness Area, known as one of the most beautiful high-alpine retreats in the Lower 48, has a trailhead just a couple of miles above the Gates Ranch. Hiking, exploring, horseback riding, backcountry fishing and hunting, mountain biking, birdwatching, 4-wheeling, elk and mule deer hunting—it’s all right out the back door from the Gates Ranch. For skiers, it’s an hour’s drive to Vail or Beaver Creek and an hour and a half to Steamboat Springs.