Location is what the Vera Cruz Mountain Ranch is all about. The ranch is located just north of Ruidoso, New Mexico, the mountain playground of the southwest. The 8,640± deeded acre Vera Cruz Mountain Ranch is within the scenic and historical Billy the Kid County and cradled within a spectacular mountain valley surrounded by the Lincoln National Forest.
The enviable location of this great ranch is within close proximity to world famous quarter horse racing, casinos, championship golfing, trophy hunting, Sierra Blanca and Ski Apache, fine arts, cultural events at the Spencer Theater, fine dining and the national forest with endless outdoor recreational activities.
The Vera Cruz Mountain Ranch contains the very private Vera Cruz Mountain and adjoins the Lincoln National Forest along a 10 mile boundary. This location provides excellent recreational opportunities and a pristine buffer zone limiting development.
Carrizozo, the Lincoln County seat is located only five miles west of the property and is the road junction of U.S. Highways 380 and 54.
Access to the property is private and directly off pavement. U.S. Highway 380 forms much of the southern border. The best location description is to stay situated at the highway road junction of U.S. 380 and New Mexico State Highway 37. A county gravel road, O Bar O Road, accesses the ranch north off U.S. 380 providing excellent access to the interior and adjacent USFS cattle grazing allotments that go with the ranch. Also, nearby is the Sierra Blanca Regional Airport.
Vera Cruz Mountain Ranch is a beautiful 8,640± deeded acre expanse of diversified mountainous rangeland. The topography varies from grassy valley bottomland expanding to the juniper and piñon woodlands slopes and on into the mountain ponderosa pine forest. Elevations range from 6,000 to 8,000 feet. Towering over the ranch is Carrizozo Peak and the Carrizozo Mountains to the north and the Vera Cruz Mountains to the east.
These mountains create a vast watershed draining onto the ranch from many directions. Notable canyons are Nogal Creek, which is a wet canyon with intermittent surface water, and also Indian Canyon and Benado Canyon. Nogal Creek also provides a renewable source of gravel and crushed rock and occasional income.
The west view from most locations on the ranch takes in the huge view shed of the Carrizozo Basin and to the south are great scenic vistas of Nogal Peak, Church Mountain and the towering often snow capped 12,000 ft. Sierra Blanca. The entire north and east borders are protected by the Lincoln National Forest. Within this forest area is the Benado Gap #105 USFS cattle and horse grazing allotments that are permitted to the Vera Cruz Mountain Ranch. The allotment, approximately 17,000 acres, provides yearlong grazing for 52 head and 8 months of grazing for an additional 18 head of cattle all in addition to the 8,640± deeded acres. Associated with the deeded land is an additional 311.60 acres of New Mexico state lease land identified as lease number GM-2809. Included within the deeded land and unique to this developing area is the farmland of which 376 acres are classified as irrigable lands. This land area has declared water rights totaling 1,391 acre feet that have been filed with the New Mexico State Engineer. The water rights are listed as file numbers T-2250 and T-2250-S. Associated with the water rights is a center pivot sprinkler system, three pivot sites, solid set sprinklers, two irrigation wells and the water pipeline delivery system.
Additional water is available throughout the ranch with eight subsurface ground wells providing the ranch with adequate domestic and livestock water. These water systems supply numerous water storages and livestock drinking troughs. Within the forest area are many springs, seeps, and earthen tanks that store runoff rainwater providing additional water to livestock and wildlife. The ranch is fenced and crossed fences into numerous pastures. All pastures have vehicle access and livestock water.
The Vera Cruz Mountain Ranch headquarters is located nearby U.S. 380 and the O Bar O County Road. This facility has a new double-wide residence, 28' x 50', and a large metal shop and equipment barn. This enclosed barn has concrete and gravel floor, bathroom facilities, water and 220 electric service extended to the headquarters and traversing the ranch parallel to the O Bar O County Road. Also, at this location are state-of-the-art cattle processing pens.
The pens are pipe construction and include a working squeeze chute housed within an enclosed cattle processing shed with concrete floor, metal siding and roof cover. Utilities include electric and telephone service. Natural gas is available along the southern highway boundary.
All domestic water is supplied by the ranch, which has more than adequate quantities of domestic, livestock and agricultural water rights.
As would be expected, this diverse mountain ranch has a thriving wildlife community. Big game sighted and hunted on the ranch and adjacent forest lands include most all of New Mexico's major big game animals: Elk, mule deer, antelope, bear, lion and turkey. Last year the ranch received seven land owner bull elk permits and hunters took home seven big bulls. The desert mule deer of the region are huge due to the available feed and habitat, which has much browse and tree cover. The 2004 season was the first year that antelope were hunted. The higher elevations within the forest provide a great habitat for turkey, bear and lion.
Adjacent land use to the north and east of the Vera Cruz Mountain Ranch is protected by the Lincoln National Forest and limited to agricultural and recreational use. Land use to the west and south is in transition from ranching to hobby ranches and rural residential. Several large and small ranches that are adjacent to or nearby the Vera Cruz Mountain Ranch are establishing conservation easements restricting development and maintaining open space. The Vera Cruz Mountain Ranch has an incredible location and many natural resources that are complimented by the resources of this popular tourist mountain region, which makes the Vera Cruz Mountain Ranch one of the best mountain ranch real estate opportunities available anywhere within the Rocky Mountain Ranch region.
