HWY 54, Van Horn, TX 79855 - Culberson County

The historic Circle Ranch located high in the Diablo Mountains of far-West Texas has had only three owners since Obadiah Bounds pioneered the ranch in 1879. He ran the O brand, giving rise to the ranchs name. The ranch is located in Hudspeth and Culberson Counties, just 11 miles northwest of Van Horn, a 30-minute drive from the ranch south gate to its 6,000-foot jet-accessible airport, hospital, and town conveniences. El Paso, just 100 miles to the west, is a thriving major regional city with an international airport offering one-stop convenience virtually anywhere, domestic and worldwide. The fortress rim of the Diablos acts as a natural barrier for protection and creates a wilderness world unto itself.

Acreage

32,000 acres in Hudspeth and Culberson County

Description

Circle Ranch is as unique as it gets, with four distinct geographic regions or habitat providences combined into one ownership. Chihuahuan Desert, Canyonlands, High Grasslands, and Rolling Hills are balanced equally in acreage, providing for a diversity of habitats, plants, animals, and natural beauty. Mountain vistas are found throughout the ranch; as scenic as any part of the Big Bend, with clear views of Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in Texas (8,750 feet). Circle Ranch is the heart of the Sierra Diablo Mountains and contains its highest peak Diablo Peak (6,500 feet). The western escarpments overlook Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin 600,000-acre property. The area views are nothing short of stunning.

The Circles owners management efforts have been dedicated for the past 17 years to improving range condition, habitat, and infrastructure. There is a road network, much of it milled for easy traveling throughout the ranch, and an extensive new water system that supports more than 200 watering stations. Subsoiling efforts on more than 8,000 acres and erosion control measures are designed within a holistic management philosophy, and have created healthier soil, more rainfall retention, better grassland cover, and more forage for wildlife and livestock. Livestock has been an essential tool in achieving the restoration goals and the ranch has an extensive pasture system for rotating cattle in a planned grazing system.

The improvements are just as impressive as the landscape, located within a protected

sweeping valley with steep slope monument mountains, scattered all around a central headquarters complex. This is a family working and adventure ranch designed as a hacienda with interconnecting walls and buildings, creating a beautifully landscaped complex of houses, buildings, barns, patios, gardens, and lawns all under a forest of evergreen and deciduous trees on a drip irrigation system. The ranch, with its improvements, is immaculately maintained by an impressive local staff and is ready day-one for entertainment or quiet family enjoyment.

Improvements

Housing

Main house: 4-BR, 2-B, dining, living, kitchen, office, gun area, features oak floors; a full porch overlooks the Sierra Diablos

Large basement includes laundry, work benches, freezer, gun safe, food and wine storage, mouse-resistant clothes storage

Commanders quarters (CQ): Private walled garden and home. CQ is an exact replica of an Historic Fort Davis officer's house. Bedroom and sitting room are connected by 25' foyer/bar/coat room with gun closets, gun safe. 2-baths, 14 ceilings, oak floors

School house: 1BR with bunks, 1 bath

Guest house 1-BR, 1-LR, 1-B, full porch and enclosed garden front and rear

All houses are fully air conditioned and heated

All baths are new or updated

Automatic propane-powered electric generator system runs the entire HQ compound with all systems operating - summer or winter

Automatic sprinkler systems

Professionally designed gardens

300 transplanted trees

Two mechanically renovated walk-in cool rooms

Small weather station connecting to cellphones by an app for remote viewing.

Barn

Vernacular Far West Texas historic structure, built for a working ranch

Covered stalls

Tack room

Feed Room

Workshop and benches

Retrofitted with rollup end doors

Winches for game butchering and/or vehicle servicing

Horse breaking circle

Adjacent horse pens

Multiple water troughs

Dog runs

Filled with 90-years of ranching paraphernalia

Rifle Range

1,500-meter monumented rifle and pistol range with reactive steel targets and static target boards

25-yard pistol with steel targets

500-meter NRA match compliant silhouettes

4-skeet traps

Storage area for targets, spotting scopes, shooting bags

Covered shooting positions with lounging, cooking, viewing areas

This is a military-grade range designed by Army and Marine long-distance rifle instructors and snipers

Habitat

The Diablo Mountains are truly a high desert Sky Island with cool summers and monsoon rains. It is a range of mountains bridging the Guadalupe Mountains to the north with the Eagles, Van Horn, Sierra Viejas, Chinatis to the south and beyond into Mexico. These Mountain Islands are providing extremely important functions as a habitat island, with intermountain ridge lines and valleys serving as corridors for wildlife migration, especially between Texas and Mexico along the Rio Grande.

Numerous bird species that are normally associated with the Rocky Mountains and/or Mexican Highlands are known to occur within this island of montane habitat. Hummingbirds, neotropical songbirds, eagles, hawks, and many more creates a year-round birding paradise.

The climate and soils support a mix of desert and mountain vegetation from scrublands to grasslands, to pinon/juniper and oaks uplands. Grasses include Sideoats, Blue, Black, Hairy, and Chino grama as well as Cane Bluestem, Green Sprangle-Top, Tobosa, and many others. Along the canyon floors, and especially on the north facing hillside slopes, there are Juniper, pion pine, daggers, and oaks. A variety of flowering plants and cacti provide habitat for migrating and resident birds, bats, and butterflies.

The four distinct habitat providences on the ranch created by elevation, slope, topography, soils, and vegetation provides a diversity rarely found anywhere in Texas. Quail hunting in the Desert, Big Horn Sheep in the Canyonlands, Elk and Deer in the Rolling Hills, and Pronghorn in the High Grasslands. Circle Ranch has it all!

Wildlife

The Circle Ranch, with its combination of geographic regional habitats, provides for the perfect location to manage and enjoy a variety for game and non-game species. Blue Quail hunting is second to none, as is the Desert Mule Deer, Elk, Big Horn Sheep, and Pronghorn. The ranch has a Level III Managed Land Deer Permit, providing for an extended season for Mule Deer and the opportunity for better management of the herd. Water distribution and road access, combined with excellent range condition and habitat provides for some of the best hunting in the state. Add the jaw-dropping mountain vistas, Circle stands alone. This area features all large ranch neighbors with low fences, including the Diablo Mountain Wildlife Management Area with a common focus of improving wildlife resources.

Free-ranging game species

Desert Bighorn Sheep (sheep permits received in 16 of the last 18 years).

Desert Mule Deer

Pronghorn

Elk

Aoudad

Collared Peccary (Javelina)

Scaled (Blue) Quail

Gambles Quail

Mearns Quail (Texas season is closed)

Whitewing Dove

Mourning Dove

Collared Dove

Transient ducks in small numbers

Non-game species and rescue animals

Wild Burros

Alpacas & Llamas

Longhorn

Prairie Dogs (6-Dog Towns)

Predators (not hunted, seemingly in healthy balance)

Mountain Lion

Bobcats

Coyotes

Ferrets

Foxes

Badgers

Chupacabra (alleged)

Birds of interest

Transient waterfowl including ducks, curlew, seagulls

Many songbirds

Golden Eagles (many pairs nest in the ranchs cliffs)

Great Horned Owls

Many other raptors

Hummingbirds

Migratory Swallows (hundreds nest at HQ)

also

Mexican Freetail Bats (the Carlsbad bat populations feed and roost on and around the ranch)

Water

Water on the Circle Ranch comes from a perched aquifer of shallow abundant sweet water. Most wells are only 60 feet deep with one well being 1,200 feet deep. Seven of the wells have electricity from Rio Grande Electric with submersible pumps and two are solar. Widespread electricity over the ranch provides opportunities to pump water to high, elevated storage where it gravity feeds to the more than 200 water troughs.

50 storage structures

1-40,000-gallon tank doubles as swimming pool: very beautiful site and very cold water

200 plus waterers

15-miles of quail lines in desert, north and Rock Water Hole pastures

60-miles (estimated) pipeline

10-wells in service plus 1-well awaiting recompletion.

Sources of income

Cattle

Bighorn Permits

Deer Hunts

Pronghorn Hunts

NRCS Subsoil Contracts

Future Radio Tower Leases

Grass Insurance

Minerals

Minerals

Conveyed minerals are significant

Almost all 50 sections are Mineral Classified, Free Reserve or Fee

Other Significant Features

Indian Cave

Most important cave dwelling in far-West Texas according to Dr. Bob Malouf, former Chairman of Anthropology at Sul Ross State University.

80 x 80 x head-high cave

The excavation is entirely under ranch control and currently suspended. It will require decades to complete.

Recipient of National Geographic grants.

Over 40 years, the excavation has produced extensive Pleistocene artifacts including

5 radio carbon charcoal dates (Arizona State University) that appear to predate earliest presumed human presence in North America by 25,000 years.

Other artifacts

Several unexplored caves.

Many Native American campsites with grind holes and fire remains.

Cornucopia Silver Mine shaft

US Geological Survey markers

Burch Carson inscription Carson was a renowned Bighorn Sheep Inspector who explored Circles mountains 70-years ago.

Access and Area Amenities

Driving access

Circle Ranch has easy access compared to most far-West Texas ranches

6-miles north of IH10 on a county-maintained gravel road.

Accessible from north via Sierra Blanca

Exit # 129, Allamoore is at American Talc which is clearly visible to first time arrivals at all times of day and brightly lit at night

Fuel and mechanical services are available at Sierra Blanca 20-miles west, and Van Horn 11-miles east.

Driving times from Exit 129: El Paso 1:30; Marfa 1:30, Midland 2:40; Santa Fe 6:00, San Antonio 6:15

From Allamoore Exit 129, there is no stoplight or stop sign west to Santa Monica or east to Jacksonville

Commercial aircraft access

Only 100-miles from El Paso, Circle ranch has unique accessibility compared to other West Texas ranches

HQ is less than two hours from El Paso International Airport

El Paso International Airport is served by Allegiant Air, American Airlines, American Eagle, Delta Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Southwest Airlines, United Express

Nonstop service to and from Las Vegas, Oakland, San Diego, Orlando, Dallas-Fort Worth, Dallas-Love, Chicago-O'Hare, Los Angeles, Phoenix-Sky Harbor, Atlanta, Denver, Austin, Houston-Hobby, Houston-Intercontinental, San Antonio

200 miles from Midland International Airport

Private aircraft access

South gate is 30-minutes from the Culberson County Airport in Van Horn.

6,000-foot main runway

5,600-foot cross-wind landing strips

ADF and GPS approaches

Sells low-lead and Jet-A fuel

Can take a loaded C-130; G-4's and G-5's

Any aircraft can land at Van Horn without violating insurance provisions, allowing use of time-shared airplanes

Van Horn has good, abundant (1,200) hotel rooms for pilots

Nearby town of Van Horn

A small town with pharmacy, schools, hardware, grocery, auto parts, Dollar General, and other amenities

Circle Ranch owns a nice Foremans House and adjacent vacant lot in Van Horns best subdivision, across from the Van Horn Hospital.

Van Horn Hospital, has a good emergency room and helipad; Bezoss organization has upgraded this facility.

Nearby Parks

Carlsbad Caverns

Guadalupe National Park

Historic Fort Davis

Big Bend National Park

Big Bend Ranch State Park

Staff

The ranch has one of the best ranch staff teams in West Texas with a long history of operating and caring for this amazing ranch and its owners. Cooking, cleaning, gardening, equipment driving, guiding, water system management, dirt work, and cowboying, all under the guidance of an excellent foreman. Its a family of workers dedicated to making any owners use of the ranch seamless and enjoyable.

The Ranch is offered with all the operational equipment, tools, equipment, vehicles, and livestock.