Monument Butte Ranch, Colorado: Northwestern Colorado overflows with features that echo the Old West: seemingly endless miles of gorgeous, unpopulated territory, scores of hidden valleys, vistas that extend forever and grand herds of elk that number in the thousands of animals. With 21,793 acres to its name, the massive Monument Butte Ranch southwest of Steamboat Springs is the “prime cut” of Northwestern Colorado, a ranch that has for 30 years been operated as one of the finest wildlife rich ranches in the state.
Monument Butte Ranch is without question one of the largest, contiguous mountain ranches remaining in the state of Colorado, having escaped for generations the slicing up of once-magnificent properties into lesser parcels. This expansive spread covers over 34 square miles on the north flank of the Flat Tops, occupying elevations from 6800 to 8600 feet. The ranch contains thousands of acres of excellent big game habitat consisting of rolling hills, thickets of oak brush, aspen forests, open meadows and pockets of dark timber. Numerous small permanent streams run through the ranch and over 30 reservoirs have been created. As a result, wildlife thrives here in large numbers, including a portion of what has been termed the nation’s largest elk herd.
