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Overview
This 10,355-acre (7,812 deeded acres, 1,750 acre BLM lease and 640 acre State lease) ranch is situated in southern Colorado's Cuchara Valley in a magnificent setting against the backdrop of Mestas and Silver Mountains on the eastern flank of the Sangre de Cristo Range.
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Alpine
This alpine region is paradise found. The western most portion of the ranch has the upper reaches of a spectacular canyon which ascends up the southern and western slope of Silver Mountain into a dense alpine region.
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Citadel Lake
Breathtaking is the only way to describe Citadel Lake. It is the signature body of water in the upper canyon and ranch.
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Lower Canyon
The lower reaches of the canyon begin a transition from the alpine region to hills interspersed with rim rock outcrops studded with pinion pine and gambol oak, interspersed with stands of aspen, spruce and ponderosa pine.
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Silver Mountain
Silver Mountain climbs to 10,522 feet and is mostly fractured granite in composition. Until the late 1800's, it was know as Dike Mountain because of the multiple spokes of dike structures that lead from it.
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Dikes
When the mountains in the Cuchara Valley were formed, magma also surged upward into cracks in the ground and hardened.
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Reservoir
At the base of the canyon, a diversion structure has been built to efficiently direct water from Abetya Creek through a pipeline into the main ranch reservoir.
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Arroyo
On the southwestern end of the ranch, there is a magnificent arroyo that traverses the grasslands to the base of Mestas Mountain
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Grasslands
This vast savannah is home to herds of antelope and is the heart of the cattle operation.
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Hayfields
The north and south irrigated hayfields compose approximately 300 acres and produce over 500 tons of hay most years.
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