Getting your player ready...
So, how good is the piece of land west of Laramie, where you can buy 40 acres for as little as $69,000? To find out, you have to drive three hours up to Wild Horse Ranch and see it, like I did this week. TOTALLY worth it (I shot 300 photos) – antelope at play, birches coming into spring greenery against the Medicine Bow mountains, rolling prairie, dozens of wild horses.
And a bald eagle in his nest. “You can’t build near one of those nests,” said Robin Streit, who with husband Brian moved up here last year from Nebraska – built a barn that includes a nice-sized apartment for their family, while they build a home nearby. “Our life is totally different here,” Robin added, as their daughter Jamie, 11, led us over to the remuda for a look at three mounts they have on site – not counting all of the wild ones running the 16,000-acre expanse. For their spread the couple selected a 40 acre premium parcel that backs to National Forest land along Sheep Mountain, and put it together with an equal-sized, lower-priced interior parcel. Meanwhile the couple can dine out in Laramie – 20 miles east of Wild Horse Ranch’s security gate, where Jamie goes to school. “Some of our buyers are retired, creating a summer place where they can have their kids and grandkids up,” says Steve Amick of Scottsdale-based Brooks Realty & Advisory Group, who will meet you at the gate today, to give you a tour of the ranch and its remaining parcels. That was NOT the case with the Streits, though; he’s reoriented his work operation, using Laramie Regional Airport – 15 miles – to link to DIA. You’ll also see Hattie Lake where Wild Horse residents have a covered shelter (Brian pulled a 25-inch rainbow out of there); numbers of solar and wind generators of owners who are going renewable energy; and community recreation sites including a forested picnic area with fire pit, and trailheads into the National Forest. “This is a trophy ranch property,” adds Tres Brooks, who created Wild Horse Ranch in 2007 from a family-owned ranch and subdivided it into 380 covenant-controlled parcels, accessed by maintained roads. Owner-carry financing is available at 10 percent down, Amick notes. Start your visit at the web site, and then call Steve Amick at 307-277-1333 to arrange to meet at the gate. Wild Horse Ranch is west of Laramie; from I-80 take Exit 311, Snowy Range Road, head west a half mile, and veer NORTH on Snowy Range, then west 18 miles to the gate. WHERE: Wild Horse Ranch, 40-acre covenant-controlled ranch sites in scenic, gated Wyoming enclave, 20 min. from Laramie; 90 min. from Fort Collins; lakes, some back to Medicine Bow National Forest, from $1,725/acre. By appointment, take I-25 to Cheyenne then west on I-80, 48 mi. to Laramie, Exit 311, Snowy Range Rd.;, head west ½-mile, veer NORTH on Snowy Range, then west 18 mi. to gate PRICE: From $69,000, owner financing availableFollow Mark Samuelson on Twitter:
@marksamuelson
