Monarch Ranch is a sportsman’s paradise yet close enough to the mountain towns of Chama, New Mexico, and Pagosa Springs, Colorado, to be a year-round destination for your entire family. This spectacular ranch has trophy elk and mule deer in Northern Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, yet is close to the Colorado border. Being located one ridge over from the famed Jicarilla Apache Reservation with a superb reputation for outstanding wildlife stewardship greatly benefits this ranch. Within the migration corridor for both mule deer and wintering grounds for the Southern San Juan elk herd, the wildlife is abundant. Just east, a few miles from the ranch, lies the W.A. Humphries Wildlife Management area, the broken butt, and Quinlan ranches, all famous for their wildlife. If you have thought about owning your own ranch you should do yourself a favor and take a look at the Monarch Ranch.
Elk, mule deer, black bear, turkey, mountain lion, and coyote are all present on the property, as evidenced by the game cam photos. Cattle have been placed on the ranch annually.
A small hunting cabin on the property has recently been remodeled. A downstairs basement is used for storage but could be finished out if desired. A water well was drilled and completed a few years ago, and the log shows it at 25 GPM. There are an additional four ponds on the ranch that catch rain and snow runoff, and multiple wallows the elk have developed. Power is supplied to the cabin and water well via Northern Rio Arriba Electric.
Monarch Ranch has a diverse habitat, with the lower levels dominated by pinon and juniper with sage flats, which are a favorite of both elk and deer. As you head up the mountain, you see more and more large ponderosa pines and oak motts. Once on top of the mountain, the southern and southwestern edge of the ranch is a large rim with views of the continental divide north of Pagosa all the way to Chama, and on a clear day, the mountains above Durango are visible.
The ranch is located about 7 minutes east of Dulce, which is the main city for the Jicarilla Apache Nation. With a full grocery store, casino, and gas you don’t have far to go from the ranch to grab some necessities. Should you desire fine dining, Pagosa Springs is a short 35-40 minute drive from the ranch, and Chama is about 25 minutes. With all-weather access and frontage on Highway 64, you can use the ranch even in the winter and snowmobile on the ranch or drive to Wolf Creek Ski Area, which is just over an hour from the ranch.
