Huff Creek Ranch

Carey, Idaho
$1,250,000

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This 860± acre working ranch is only 40 minutes from the Sun Valley airport. Over 2 miles of spring-fed Huff Creek provide habitat for waterfowl, mule deer, and upland birds. The ranch lies adjacent to Craters of the Moon National Monument and offers outstanding views of the Pioneer Mountains to the north. Water rights and a BLM grazing permit round out the package.

The Huff Creek Ranch is located at the base of the Pioneer Mountains 8 miles east of the farming and ranching community of Carey, Idaho and an hour’s drive southeast of the famous mountain resort of Ketchum/Sun Valley. The town of Hailey, county seat for Blaine County and 12 miles south of Ketchum, is 40 minutes northwest of the ranch and offers a full range of services and amenities. Commercial air service and a private fixed base operation, Sun Valley Aviation, are located at Hailey’s Friedman Memorial Field. Skywest and Horizon Airlines service the airport and offer daily flights to Salt Lake City and Seattle. Sun Valley Aviation offers a suite of private aircraft services, and Friedman Field is capable of handling large private jet aircraft. The ranch is accessed from Carey via U.S. Highway 20/26. Estimated driving distances to the nearest urban population centers are as follows: Boise, 150 miles to the west; Twin Falls, 50 miles to the south; Idaho Falls, 100 miles to the east; and Salt Lake City, 230 miles to the south.

Located on the southern edge of the vast central Idaho wilderness, Blaine County encompasses 2,655 square miles and supports a current population of approximately 20,000. The majority of the county’s residents live in the Big Wood River Valley communities of Hailey, Bellevue, Ketchum, and Sun Valley. Of the nearly 1.7 million acres that comprise the county, 77% of the landmass is state or federally owned, assuring ample open space and public lands recreation opportunities. The community of Carey, with a population of approximately 600, is the agricultural base for eastern Blaine County and home to numerous multi-generational farms and ranches. As part of the larger Sun Valley community, an owner has access to one of the nation’s most prestigious year-round resort areas. Top-rated golf courses and tennis facilities, fine dining and cultural opportunities, mountain biking and hiking trails, and world-class downhill and cross country skiing are all available within an hour of the property.

Eastern Blaine County is also home to Craters of the Moon National Monument, a 750,000-acre national monument and reserve established in 1924 and expanded in 2000 to preserve the unique lava flows and sagebrush steppe grasslands that cover this part of south central Idaho. The monument encompasses three major lava fields lying within the Great Rift of Idaho, a world-renown geological formation featuring some of the best examples of open rift cracks in the world, including the deepest known on earth at 800 feet. This rugged landscape remains remote and undeveloped with only one paved road across the northern end of the monument. A surprising number of plants and animals have adapted to live in the high desert environment of the monument, and it is an excellent site for hiking, bird watching, hunting, photography, backpacking and caving. The National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management jointly manage the monument.

The climate for the area is best described as semi-arid with an average humidity of only 30% and annual precipitation of 14 inches per year. Summers are warm with the temperatures occasionally reaching into the low 90’s and cooling to the mid-40’s at night. Winters are generally cold, with an average maximum temperature from November through February of 35 degrees and an average minimum temperature during the same period of 13 degrees.

The Huff Creek Ranch is irregularly shaped and, at its widest points, is approximately two miles in length north to south and a mile and three-quarters from east to west. Highway 20 crosses the northern boundary of the ranch for over a mile, while the Carey-Kamima Road, an all-season county road, runs along the property’s western boundary for a quarter-mile. The majority of the ranch lies south of the highway and is bordered by working ranchlands, BLM lands, and Craters of the Moon National Monument.

The ranch features over 2½ miles of Huff Creek, a small spring creek that originates from spring sources east of the property. Huff Creek provides irrigation water for the ranch’s agricultural operation as well as habitat for waterfowl, upland birds, and mule deer. The ranch buildings are located on the north end of the ranch adjacent to the highway and include a two-story ranch house, livestock pens, and miscellaneous outbuildings and farm structures. The property is a mixture of irrigated fields, meadows, riparian areas, dry grazing lands, as well as undulating lava flows that extend onto the ranch from the adjacent Craters of the Moon Monument. The ranch also features three ponds that store irrigation water and provide additional wildlife habitat. The elevation of the ranch is approximately 4,900 feet.

The Huff Creek Ranch has been owned and operated by the same family for over 60 years. The property is best suited for seasonal livestock grazing and hay and grain production, which could be accomplished by leasing the operation to a local rancher. This type of arrangement would minimize overhead for a new owner while taking advantage of the ranch’s production capabilities. The ranch holds surface water rights from Huff Creek and Fish Creek Reservoir and groundwater rights from two irrigation wells on the property.

860�± Deeded

It is often said that the Sun Valley area offers Idaho’s best combination of trout fishing, big-game hunting and wing shooting, and the Huff Creek Ranch lies in the heart of it all.

Located just 15 miles west of the ranch, Silver Creek is among the crown jewels of western fly-fishing. Beginning with the stretch of water through The Nature Conservancy’s Silver Creek Preserve, approximately 20 minutes from the ranch, there are miles of spring creek habitat and outstanding fishing downstream to Silver Creek’s confluence with the Little Wood River below Carey. Fabled insect hatches, large surface-feeding rainbow and brown trout, and an unlikely high desert setting combine to make this historic spring creek a remarkable place to “wet a line.” Additional quality fishing resources within an hour of the Huff Creek Ranch include the Little Wood River above the Little Wood Reservoir as well as the section below its confluence with Silver Creek, the Big Wood River west of Carey, and the Big Lost River near Mackay, Idaho. In addition, stillwater fishing for bream and largemouth bass can be found in Carey Lake just five minutes west of the ranch

The area is also rich with upland birds and waterfowl. Chukar partridge are plentiful on the hillsides, ridgelines, and rock outcroppings throughout the foothills and mountains just north of the ranch, while Hungarian partridge and sage grouse can be found in good numbers in adjacent sagebrush stands. In addition, waterfowl hunters can find quality shooting at Carey Lake Wildlife Management Area and at Silver Creek Preserve. With its spring water, Huff Creek entices good numbers of ducks and geese throughout the hunting season. Doves are abundant during the early fall until the first hard freezes occur.

The surrounding mountains, foothills, and high desert areas teem with elk, mule deer and pronghorn. Moose, black bear, and mountain lion also reside locally. Because the property consists of at least 640 acres, the owner of Huff Creek is eligible for a landowner appreciation permit from the Idaho Fish and Game Department to hunt elk, deer or antelope on the ranch or other areas within hunt unit 49.

In addition to hunting and fishing, the Sun Valley area offers a variety of world-class, year-round outdoor recreation activities a short distance away from the ranch. Winter activities include downhill skiing on famous Bald Mountain and cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling on the area’s extensive winter trail network. During the summer and fall, the area’s diverse topography offers unparalleled hiking, backpacking and mountain bike riding. Blaine County is also blessed with tens of thousands of acres of BLM and national forest lands, which provide unlimited opportunities for one to experience the best of Idaho’s backcountry.

2009 property taxes were approximately $4,451.

MANAGEMENT SERVICES - The management of a ranch such as this one can be made as simple and as time saving or as involved as one desires through the services of Hall and Hall’s ranch management division. These services are customized to each owner and ranch. They can be as simple as leasing out the agricultural operations so one has virtually no responsibilities. Or they can be as involved as assessing the existing resource, finding and hiring a caretaker or manager, buying livestock and equipment, expense paying and payroll accounting, etc. Wes Oja and Jerome Chvilicek at (406) 656-7500 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              (406) 656-7500      end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              (406) 656-7500      end_of_the_skype_highlighting are available to describe and discuss these services further and welcome your call.

RESOURCE ENHANCEMENT - Should one desire to assess and enhance the existing fish and wildlife assets of this ranch Hall and Hall’s resource management division is available to do so. These services are custom tailored to each owner and ranch and can range from inventorying of existing conditions, plans for restoration and enhancement of streams and ponds and introduction of bird and game feed plots to bidding, cost accounting, construction supervision. Peter Weber at (406) 587-3090 and Wes Oja at (406) 656-7500 are available to describe and discuss these services further and welcome your call.

SPECIALIZED LENDING - Over the past 59 years Hall and Hall has created a legacy by efficiently providing capital to the intermountain west. In addition to traditional farm and ranch loans, we specialize in understanding the unique aspects of placing loans on ranches where value may be influenced by recreational features, location and improvements.

Competitive Pricing ● Flexible Terms ● Efficient Processing
In-House Appraisals ● Common Sense Underwriting
Dave Roddy ● (406) 656-7500 ● Billings, Montana