Yampa Headwaters Ranch consists of 610 acres with 2 live creeks, multiple stocked ponds and highlighted by an Army Corps of Engineers permitted wetland mitigation bank with over 200 wetland credits available to serve growth in Northwest Colorado. Perfectly located between Steamboat Springs and the Vail Valley, this ranch’s diverse landscape includes portfolio of senior water rights including Yamcolo and Stillwater Reservoirs, 100+ acre irrigated hay meadow, over 250 acres of wetland and riparian bordering Brinker and Chimney Creeks and upland acreage of rolling sagebrush topography. Brinker and Chimney Creeks, headwaters of the Yampa River, meander through the ranch for over 2.5 miles and provide opportunities for rainbow and brown trout species. Two of the largest stocked ponds, Big Pond and Acord Pond are both fed by lives water and stocked with rainbow and the occasional brown trout has migrated in. Due to the live water and extensive riparian acreage, Yampa Headwaters Ranch is a year-round destination for waterfowl including mallards, teal, wood duck, geese and in recent years, two pairs of Sandhill cranes have nested and raised their young on the ranch. Bordering BLM, the ranch is home to mule deer, antelope and the occasional elk herd migrating through. Ranch headquarters with views and access to the Flattops Wilderness area includes a custom barn with 2 bedroom, 1.5 bathroom apartment, 3 x 14’ bay doors, and already set up for big game processing including walk in cooler. Yampa Headwaters Ranch’s wetland mitigation bank was permitted in 2003 and has transferred wetland credits throughout Northwest Colorado for unavoidable wetland impacts from Vail and Beaver Creek, to Steamboat Springs and west to Craig and Meeker. Yampa Headwaters Ranch benefits from traditional ag economics of cattle grazing and hay production but the wetland mitigation bank future credit sales brands this ranch impossible to reproduce in today’s ranch market.
