A gem. Period. 3120 measured acres or so; 80 acres federal lease, the rest fee. We estimate this high country (7200 to 8600 foot elevation) with it’s forested rocky crags consists of over 12,000 surface acres. Situated along Fort Fetterman Road, the Ranch is just 3 hours from Denver. The great historic, cozy and very comfortable cabins appear as if out of a Rockwell painting. They were home at various times to the US calvary, a famous trapper and his squaw, and pony express. Three of the ancient log structures have been redone, the others are in progress. We are currently in the process of getting a historical grant to restore the oldest barn in Albany County.  

Game Management Area 7 of which this ranch is a small part, is very finely managed by the caring stewards of Wyoming Fish and Game, and boasts some of the best elk hunting in lower 48; Mule deer and antelope, are abundant too, though the mulie populations have not yet recovered from several natural setbacks. Fun fishing is a certainty in 4 miles of Labonte Creek and a number of other smaller creeks for 6-13 inch rainbows and brook trout. In our very first year, we re-cut every irrigation ditch on the ranch getting water to all 168 acres of territorial (very high priority) irrigations rights that had been overlooked for years. The ranch has been improved thus far with ten ponds of 1/2-3 acres. Each of the five main drainages offers to the fly fishing enthusiast a different species , 1-6 lb brown, rainbow, brook, cutthroat, cut bow trout. There remains five more ponds to install.  Over 13 miles of new fencing, including all important riparian area protection fences have been built.  This ranch is bordered for many miles by tens of thousands of acres of National Forest and is now in pristine condition.   Livestock grazing is on a rest/rotation, holistic basis, enhancing what was already a great wildlife sanctuary.  

The Ranch adjoins the pristine Wherenberg, Bortles, and Tottenhoff Ranches, More on those great properties, just at the inception of their resource improvement programs, as this site evolves.

Much remains to be done at Labonte. The historic barn and remaining two as yet unimproved cabins need loads of work, there remains miles of fencing, new water system for the Homestead, 8 upland spring and tank developments, wheeline installation on about 100 acres of irrigated lands, and the beat goes on!

Photos by Reid L Rosenthal Copyright 2008