7 Super Cool Ranches For The Outdoorsman
The Land Up Country Living Series
Land. It’s the American dream. The early settlers pushed west to stake out their piece of the new world to grow crops, raise cattle, and build businesses. It’s been awhile since those days and now the new American dream is having the largest pickleball court or a free range tofu farm. But the essence of what land symbolizes still exists; the ability and space to do what you please and be far enough from your neighbor that you don’t have to see them walk around shirtless, in boxers and crocs. Put a shirt on, Terry!
We sell farms, ranches, and undeveloped land in Central Texas but we are humble enough to admit there are other cool places around the country too with ranches that make us want to grab a beer and fire up the tractor. So go buy a lottery ticket and take a journey with us through some of the largest, most beautiful, and most expensive ranches for sale in the US so you can start plotting your escape from Terry.
1. 6,458 Acres in Purlear, North Carolina- $97,500,000
We figured one could buy the entire state of North Carolina for 97 million dollars. Jokes, jokes. What you can buy for that whopping amount is 6,000 plus acres of undeveloped land, five waterfalls, 20 miles of streams, and a small cabin.
To be totally fair, if we had 6,000 acres we probably wouldn’t spend that much time indoors anyway. We’d be here:
And definitely here:
Listen, it’s no Central Texas, that’s for sure. But think of the possibilities. Like hiking? Make your own local park. Schools not great in that area? Build your own. Hate crowds at the waterpark? Make a log shoot out of one of your waterfalls. Although, that might be in direct violation of TLC’s advice. Sorry, we had too.
2. 514 Acres in Lago Vista, Texas- $50,000,000
Ah, now we are back to land for sale in Central Texas where the world makes sense. If you’re familiar with the Austin area you’ve surely heard of Lake Travis. Well why settle for a lakehouse when you can have a lake ranch?? For a mere 50 million dollars you can buy 514 acres of Central Texas land that is only an hour or so from downtown Austin, but still a world away.
Lago Vista and neighboring Lakeway are quickly becoming their own ecosystems with many of the same amenities of Austin without all the hustle and bustle. And wouldn’t you know it, we actually have a house for sale in Lakeway, Texas right now! Isn’t that a coincidence!
Let’s be honest, this prime Central Texas land is destined to be developed into lakefront housing or used for commercial purposes at some point, but isn’t it fun to dream of a lake ranch where you can spend your days answering the age old question; can longhorns swim?
3. 17,651 Acres in Jelm, Colorado- $49,500,000
514 Acres for $50,000,000 comes out to roughly $97,000 per acre, but if you’re looking for a better deal and are willing to trade the sunny lakefront and boat life for mountains and snowmobiles, then how about 17,651 acres in Colorado for $49,500,000?
This massive ranch is in northern Colorado close to the border of Wyoming, which sounds cold. Though the summers sound lovely with an average high in July of about 80 degrees and a low of 47. This is in stark contrast to a high of Super Hot and a low of Still Pretty Damn Hot in Austin during the summer. But Colorado and Central Texas actually have more in common than most people would think. A love of hunting, fishing, and of course, wide open spaces.
This massive ranch is an outdoorsman's paradise with no shortage of tasty animals roaming around searching for a plate to land on.
4. 2,020 Acres in Lampasas, Texas- $37,500,000
Let’s head back to the promised land again and ranches for sale in Texas. This Hill Country ranch in Lampasas is also hunter friendly with Axis deer and Aoudad sheep on the land, not to mention river access for fishing or better yet, sitting in a tube and enjoying a frosty beverage.
We’re not lawyers, but we’re pretty sure you’d be required by law to get a kayak and spend your evenings paddling the river and listening to…a whole lot of nothin’.
There is a three bedroom house on the property but if this is the type of place that interests you, then you’ll probably spend most of your time here:
We’ve seen a lot of ranches for sale in Central Texas and we never get tired of a view like this:
5. 650 Acres in Snowmass, Colorado- $45,000,000
Colorado has a strong showing on this list, and it’s no surprise with views like this:
This 650 acres of ranch land is in a valley with six ‘14ers’ (14,000 foot mountain peaks) looming over it and is next to the White River National Forest. It’s also next to the charming town of Snowmass Village that is home to premiere skiing hotspots with Aspen just down the street. “I’m talkin’ about a place where the beer flows like wine, where the women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano. I’m talkin’ about Aspen.”
Dumb and Dumber. Anyone? Is this thing on?
There is nothing dumb about the scenery though.
6. 10,830 Acres in Cascade, Idaho- $41,157,306
We’ll head even further west for our next dream ranch, all the way to Idaho. Insert potato joke here. Idaho may be best known for its tubers but its ranch land makes a strong case for the state’s identity, especially with this 10,830 acre property.
If you’re a water lover then this might be your ranch with eight miles of flowing creeks, streams, and the Badley geothermal hot spring.
It’s hard to picture what 10,000+ acres of land looks like so here’s something to put it in perspective; the average size of a house in the US is around 2,000 square feet so, in theory, you could fit 235,877 average US houses on this ranch.
7. 4,365 Acres in Mountain Home, Texas- $21,690,000
For the final dream ranch we end in the great state of Texas, as one always should. Mountain Home is on the edge of the Texas Hill Country and West Texas and like the other ranches on this list, it is perfect for the sportsman who wants their own personal hunting ground.
We don’t mean that this place COULD be used as a hunting ranch, we mean it IS a hunting ranch. It even comes standard with its own meat processing facility, rifle range (though when you own 4,000 acres in Texas isn’t everything a rifle range?), and a walk-in cooler. That means you have don’t have to go anywhere to get these guys into a sausage:
The Texas sized ranch also comes with a 7,000 square foot, eight bedroom, nine bathroom hunting lodge to serve up those tasty critters to your hunting pals.
This is less a ranch and more a Texas paradise for those who prefer sitting in a blind to staring at a TV, hearing the sounds of wild animals over the drone of traffic on 35, and eating vegetarian…nope, not that last one.
We at Land Up love the ranch lifestyle. If you’re reading this then chances are you do as well. If you’re looking to buy or sell a Central Texas ranch, give us a call, we’ll get the job done for you.