La Veta Land and Ranches
Southern Colorado has many different types of ranches. Some are working ranches raising cattle, horses, buffalo or even alpacas. Others are used for hunting, some complete with outfitters. Some of the most beautiful La Veta ranches have even been partitioned into smaller parcels usually 35 acres or more and sold off to people wanting to live in a historic and visually stunning mountain ranch setting.
This is an excellent way to enjoy the southern Colorado ranch lifestyle without the need to buy a huge ranch. I personally live on Raspberry Mountain Ranch just outside of La Veta. I own some property with a log home and find it a fantastic way to live. My closest neighbor is a half mile away, that’s far enough away to give a feeling of real solitude while still being just a short drive to town.
Prices vary for these ranches ranging from less than $50,000 to the sky being the limit. Many things contribute to the value of a ranch property. Mainly the size, the availability of water and power and the location (view).
[Read more Buying a Ranch in La Veta or Southern Colorado]
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La Veta Ranches
36 Search Results Found. Showing Results 1 - 15.
MLS# 07-154
MLS# 09-379
MLS# 08-506
MLS# 09-238
MLS# 09-220
MLS# 09-315
MLS# 08-572
MLS# 08-498
MLS# 08-322
MLS# 09-79
MLS# 08-407
MLS# 09-93
MLS# 09-345
MLS# 09-439
MLS# 08-882
La Veta and area ranches include:
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Buying a Ranch in Southern Colorado
Location: It’s usually easy to see why the location is so important. A great view and setting are always appealing. The importance of water should not be overlooked as many areas of Southern Colorado lack a viable source of water and even then water rights are extremely important. See my page on Colorado Water Law.
Mineral Rights: Another issue concerning the ranch buyer is mineral rights. Many times the estate is split and different people own the surface and mineral rights. See my Colorado Mineral Rights page for more information.
Power Sources: The availability of electricity and telephone service is also of great importance unless you want to go off-grid.
Water: Some of the subdivided ranches like Tres Valleys are large 3000+ acre ranches with 80 smaller 5 acre home sites and a community water system (no need to drill a well). Some La Veta and Cuchara ranches have a large natural common area, 2500 acres in Tres Valleys. A good horse ranch with plenty of water and a great location is probably the gold standard for southern Colorado.
Elevation: The higher you go the more snow you’re going to get in the winter. I personally love the snow but it doesn’t work very well if you plan to live on a ranch full time and you can’t get in and out year round. My ranch is at 8,000 feet and we get a lot of snow in the winter time but our association has a good contract with a local contractor to keep the roads clear. Some ranches like Cuchara Pass Ranch get so much snow so they really have a time keeping the roads clear in the winter. Others don't even try to keep the roads clear.
Property Taxes: Our ranch has a grazing lease with a local rancher. We run 30 pairs of cow and calf and a bull all Spring, Summer and Fall allowing us to have an agricultural status for our land. The taxes for a parcel on our ranch are around $13 a year because of this. The ranch next door to ours (Piney Ridge) dropped their grazing lease and their taxes went up to around $3,000 a year for the same size parcel.
Colorado has an open grazing law meaning that if you don’t want cattle grazing on your land it is your responsibility to fence them out. But remember if you do this you will not qualify for the agricultural tax status unless you are fencing in two head of your own (horses, cows, alpaca etc).
I am a director for my ranches property owners association and I have written a website for the owners www.RMRPOA.com. You can see the Ranch News and the Raspberry Mountain Ranch blog as well. It will give you an idea of the day to day issues concerning ranch owners here in the La Veta area.
For information on current La Veta and Cuchara listings, contact Ed Kirkland at 719-679-1309 or ed@firewallranch.com.