Chico Basin Ranch is an 87,000-acre working cattle ranch 35 minutes southeast of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Our family and staff specialize in providing an exclusive number of vacations on a real life, working cattle ranch that shares our way of life with people from all over the world. Central to the ranch's guest operation is providing learning opportunities about large-scale cattle ranching, riding horses, and learning about the wild. The ranch is owned by the Colorado State Land Board and managed under a one-of-a-kind lease by Ranchlands.
Guests participate in the day-to-day operations on the ranch. Whatever we are doing, they are doing. The ranch is very traditional in the sense that all work is done horseback, and trucks with trailers are rarely used. Spring and Fall are busiest with cattle works, summer time involves a lot of riding moving cattle from pasture to pasture. Other activities include checking water and fence infrastructures, repairing vehicles and equipment in our metal shop and building cowboy gear in our leather shop. Self-guided tours, hikes and fishing opportunities are available as well. Seasonal activities take place year round such as Branding, which takes place most weekends in April through June.