Grande Ronde Ranch

Elgin, Oregon - Troy, Oregon

Price  $4,800,000.00

Location:  

“The River” Ranch is located north of Elgin, Oregon and south of Troy, Oregon.  This is a true recreation property with exceptional balance of hunting, fishing and grazing. A beautiful, high mountain property located within the Sleds Springs Unit, this ranch offers recreation components rare to Northeastern Oregon with private river access. This 1461 acre ranch includes healthy stands of timber, range and lust meadows.

Identification of Subject Property;

Wallowa County – T 5N R42E

• Tax Lots:
  2400 – 244.49 acres
  2401 – 248.46 acres
  2402 – 240.00 acres
  2403 – 240.00 acres
  2404 – 248.35 acres
  2405 – 240.00 acres
  Total – 1461.30 acres

Acreage: 

The property consists of 1461.30 deeded acres consisting of well balanced timber and open meadows. The character of the landscape is diverse and appealing with smooth, gently rolling terrain on upper portion of the ranch with steep river canyons below. The current owners have tremendous pride of ownership as they have implemented a forest management plan and have executed precisely over the past fifteen years. The property also provides small tillable fields currently planted to pasture grass providing exceptional feed for livestock and numerous big game herds. 

Livestock:

 Historically the current owners graze 120 head of cattle throughout three separate pastures.  The condition of the grass is excellent as the owners have intermittently hand planted various grasses through out the ranch providing excellent feed for wildlife.    

Water: 

There are multiple water sources including a quarter mile of river frontage of the Grande Ronde River. Multiple springs, developed ponds and a large recreation pond are utilized for fishing and livestock watering. 

Recreation and Wildlife: 

This Ranch is home to a wide variety of species including Rocky Mountain Elk, Mule Deer, White Tail Deer, Bear and Turkey. Located in the Sled Springs unit, the ranch qualifies for three (3) Landowner Preference Tags (LOP) under the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife guidelines. See the eastern Oregon unit map in the back of this package or visit www.dfw.state.or.us . 

The Grand Ronde River supports populations of spring Chinook salmon, summer steelhead, bull trout, mountain whitefish, as well as other species. The river has a outstanding sport steelhead fishery and has some fishing for spring Chinook.

Other recreational opportunities out the back door include hiking, horseback riding, snowshoeing and snowmobiling.

The adjacent property is owned by Forest Capital providing acres of public access and other recreational opportunities. 

Improvements: 

The main ranch house provides a two story home with views of the surrounding mountains and river canyon.   

Other Amenities

• Grass air strip

Climate: 

In the Wallowa County area, the summers are warm and winters are cold.  In the winter months, the average temperatures are 36-39 degrees and in the summer months, the average temperatures are 68-72 degrees. The average annual precipitation is 19-24 inches. The average annual number of frost-free days ranges from 100-150 per year. 

Fencing: 

The perimeter of the ranch is fenced. There is interior cross-fencing.

Zoning: 

The parcel is zoned for Exclusive Farm Use (EFU).  For more information about the zoning designation, contact the Wallowa County Planning Department. 

Mineral Rights:

The owner does not warrant that there are any mineral rights available.  However, any mineral or geothermal rights owned by the seller are included as part of the property being offered for sale.  

The Grande Ronde River:  

Classification/Mileage:  Wild

From the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest to the Oregon-Washington state line, this river offers outstanding scenery, drift boating, salmon and steelhead fishing, wildlife winter range, and cultural resources.
 
Hunting is popular in this section of the Grande Ronde River. Mule deer, elk, black bear, cougar, and bighorn sheep are principal big game animals inhabiting the river corridor.
 
Fishing is excellent late in the season after the water levels have receded. Hiking along side creeks and ridges offer limited day hikes, but there are no designated trails along the river.
 
The Nez Perce, Umatilla, Walla Walla, and Cayuse Indians lived in the reaches of the Grande Ronde. Evidence of the cultural history can be glimpsed in the form of historic and prehistoric places and objects on the public lands. These cultural resource sites are fragile and irreplaceable, and the law protects this cultural history.
 
The land is managed by several interests, including the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, the State of Oregon, and many private landholders.
 
Because of the remote nature of the river canyon, vehicle access is often impossible and the conveniences of civilization are few.
 
The Grande Ronde River is a tributary of the Snake River, 182 miles long.  It drains an area southeast of the Blue Mountains and northwest of the Wallowa Mountains, on the Columbia Plateau. It flows through the agricultural Grande Ronde Valley in its middle course and through a series of scenic canyons in its lower course.  The Grande Ronde River rises in the Blue Mountains near the Anthony Lakes recreation area in the Wallowa–Whitman National Forest in southwestern Union County approximately 20 miles south of La Grande. It flows generally north along the east side of the Blue Mountains, then east, past La Grande, then generally northeast through the Grande Ronde Valley in a meandering course between the Blue Mountains and the Wallowa Mountains, receiving Catherine Creek east of La Grande. Approximately 10 miles northwest of Minam it receives the Wallowa River from the southeast, then receives the Wenaha River at Troy just south of the Washington border. It crosses into southeastern Washington, traversing the extreme southeast corner of the state and entering the Snake from the east, approximately 5 miles north of the Oregon border and 15 miles downstream from the mouth of the Salmon River. The mouth of the Grande Ronde River is located at the Snake's river mile 169, which is 493 miles from the mouth of the Columbia River.

River History:

The Grande Ronde River was given its name sometime before 1821 by French Canadian voyageurs working for the Montreal-based fur trading North West Company.
In 1988, the United States Congress designated approximately 44 miles of the river, from its confluence with the Wallowa River to the Oregon-Washington border, as the Grande Ronde Wild and Scenic River, as part of the National Wild and Scenic River program.
 
Grande Ronde Wild and Scenic River -
It is hereby declared to be the policy of the United States that certain selected rivers of the Nation which, with their immediate environments, possess outstandingly remarkable scenic, recreational, geologic, fish and wildlife, historic, cultural or other similar values, shall be preserved in free-flowing condition, and that they and their immediate environments shall be protected for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Congress declares that the established national policy of dams and other construction at appropriate sections of the rivers of the United States needs to be complemented by a policy that would preserve other selected rivers or sections thereof in their free-flowing condition to protect the water quality of such rivers and to fulfill other vital national conservation purposes. (Wild & Scenic Rivers Act, October 2, 1968)

Offered by:
The Whitney Land Company