Careless Creek Ranch
Rarely does a large ranch located all in one block become available to purchase. Its rarer still for that same ranch to have been held by the same family for the last 100 years. Introducing the Careless Creek Ranch, located in Central Montana on the south side of the Big Snowy Mountains!
For over 100 years, the Careless Creek Ranch has been developed and maintained through the excellent stewardship practices of the owners. They have worked passionately to provide a safe and enjoyable place to live and work with their families. Emotions run deep with the offering of the Careless Creek Ranch; they strongly desire to find a wise, enthusiastic owner for this distinctive treasure.
The Acreage
This ranch spanning approximately 42,400 acres consists of 41,700+/-deeded acres and another 720 acres of state-leased land, all in one contiguous block! Operations include livest...
This ranch spanning approximately 42,400 acres consists of 41,700+/-deeded acres and another 720 acres of state-leased land, all in one contiguous block! Operations include livestock revenues from sheep and cattle, forage production, small grains and leased pasture.
Acreage includes:
5000+/- acres of improved pasture land
1000+/- acres of dry land farm ground
1000+/- acres of native hay ground with creek bottoms
34,400 acres of native grass with 300 acres under pivot irrigation. The pivot supports 140 acres of spring wheat and 140 acres of alfalfa/grass mix. The alfalfa/grass has been in production for 4 years.
The 2011 hay crop amounted to approximately 5,400 ton of hay. The ranch has been conservatively stocked for the past five years.
Buildings and Improvements
The ranch headquarters includes 2 modern homes with garages, one of which has 3900+/- square feet of living space, and the other containing 2800+/- square feet of space. 4 bedrooms, 2 baths in one & 5 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths in the other. Livestock handling facilities feature a 30,000-pound livestock scale, squeeze chute, working corrals, 33x70 Quonsot building and 40x60steel building. The last two both have concrete floors. Numerous other outbuildings compliment the headquarters.
Southeast of the ranch headquarters is the sheep and lambing complex with a 2,500-head capacity and plenty of pasture. Owners are currently running approximately 650 sheep.
Careless Creek Ranch has over 350 miles of perimeter fencing and cross-fencing, all of which is in excellent condition. There are 540+/- acres of in-holdings within the ranch boundary. Well-maintained county roads run north-to-south and east-to-west, supplying all-weather access to the ranch.
Water Resources
In todays agricultural environment, water is as precious as gold. By that same logic, the Careless Creek Ranch certainly has no shortage of gold. Water is abundant here for both livestock and for crop irrigation use. Careless Creek runs through the ranch for 14 miles through well-maintained riparian pastures and hay meadows. The creek also flows into an impressive 35-acre reservoir that supplies the gravity-fed center pivot.
The current owners installed 40+ miles of underground pipeline for stock tanks. A portion of this pipeline is supplied by a 77,000-gallon lined reservoir and an additional 16,400-gallon steel storage tank. All pastures are well-watered by the supplied stock tanks, developed springs, reservoirs, wells and Careless Creek.
Recreation Opportunities
Recreation is also a part of the Careless Creek Ranch. The outdoor enthusiast can enjoy big game such as whitetail deer, mule deer and pronghorn antelope. Theres also a trophy-quality elk herd that resides in the Big Snowy Mountains that extend just north of the ranch. If you like birds, Central Montana provides excellent habitat for two species of mountain grouse (ruffed and blue), two species of prairie grouse (sharptails and sage), the Hungarian partridge and many pheasants, all of which can often be found on the ranch. Even dinosaurs once roamed the ranch a dinosaur site was discovered on the property in the early 1980s. The cast of the complete dinosaur is on display at the Dinosaur Museum in Harlowton, Montana, and at the Museum of Natural History in Philadelphia.
Careless Creek Ranch rests 90 miles northwest of Billings Montana and 110 miles southeast of Great Falls, Montana, both of which have major airports. The ranch is situated just south of the Big Snowy Mountains. One can view four other mountain ranges, the Little Belts, the Crazy Mountains, the Absarokas and the Little Snowy Mountains, while on the ranch as well.
This historic & rare property is now available for future generations to explore and enjoy. Consider yourself invited to the Careless Creek Ranch. Come see what Big Sky Country has to offer!
Ranch offered at $18,000,000.