Cascabel

Cascabel is located in San Miguel and Montrose counties in southwestern Colorado. The main entrance is on Sanborn Park Road, three miles off Highway 145. A county-maintained gravel road, Sanborn Park Road is open year round between Cascabel and Highway 145.

Norwood (pop. 532) on Wright’s Mesa above the San Miguel River Valley is the closest community, about three miles southwest as the crow flies or eight miles by road.

The ski slopes, shops, restaurants, and cultural attractions of Telluride are about 30 minutes away on Highway 145.

During the summer when Sanborn Park Road is open at the higher elevations, Montrose also is less than an hour drive from the property through the Uncompahgre National Forest. Via state and U.S. highways open year round, Montrose is 65 miles from Cascabel.

Cascabel is surrounded entirely by federal BLM land and the Uncompahgre National Forest. Because of the rugged topography and limited road access, the public lands near Cascabel are almost inaccessible and protect the property from commercial encroachment.

Airports
The Montrose Regional Airport has daily flights year round by major carriers to Denver as well as other western and southern cities, depending upon the season.The Telluride Regional Airport serves general aviation flights and has a single jet-capable runway.

The San Juan Mountains form the southern end of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and define the southwestern part of the state with their jagged, volcanic summits. The scenery here is some of the most dramatic and varied in the state with steep forested mountains, deep river valleys, and box canyons. Thirteen of Colorado’s “Fourteeners” are in the San Juan range, as are the headwaters of many rivers and streams, including the mighty Rio Grande, San Juan, and Dolores.

Former mining towns – Telluride, Durango, Silverton and Ouray among them – attract tourists in the summer and skiers in the winter. Montrose (pop. 19,132), the county seat of Montrose County and the largest town in the area, is a regional center for agriculture, shopping, and health care.

San Miguel County (pop. 7,678) and Montrose County (pop. 40,713) extend from the western slope of the San Juans to the Utah border in a geological transition zone between the mountains and the high desert. Elevations fall rapidly from the San Miguel county seat of Telluride at 8,750 feet above sea level to Cascabel at 6,400 feet above sea level in the San Miguel valley. Cascabel’s terrain and vegetation combine the best of both the mountains and high desert with a mix of pinion and Ponderosa pine, scrub oaks and willows on the banks of the river.

At 6,400 feet above sea level, Cascabel enjoys a high desert climate with low humidity, warm summers, and about 245 sunny days a year. Temperatures range from an average high of 85 in July, with nighttime lows pleasantly cool in the 50s, to an average high of 39 in January. Winter low temperatures average in the teens. The Norwood area receives about 16 inches of rain and 60 inches of snow a year. Because Cascabel is 2,300 feet lower than Telluride, it’s possible in March – before the snow melts and the river swells with runoff – to ski and fish in the same day.

The San Miguel River has drawn people to its banks to hunt and fish since before recorded time. Ancient rock art on the cliffs above the river testifies to that.

In the late nineteenth century, miners came to the San Miguel in search of gold after John Fallon filed the first claim on the legendary Smuggler vein in the Marshal Basin above what is today Telluride. Placer mining boomed for 75 miles along the river downstream from Telluride between 1875 and 1890, as hundreds rush to stake claims that mostly proved less productive than their promise.

Cascabel itself is comprised of three patented placer mining claims signed in 1887 by President Benjamin Harrison’s secretary, though there is little evidence that much gold mining ever occurred here. A former gravel pit is now the pond. The remnants of an old stone wall were preserved as part of the natural retaining wall for the Pavilion pool. There is a tumbled-down sheepherder’s cabin, and occasionally someone finds a weathered timber or the fragment of a rusted tool.

A family place
In 1987, when Robert Sinclair and his sister Emily Sinclair purchased 318± acres in the San Miguel Valley, there was the river, an abandoned gravel pit, and little else. The land was wild and studded with scrub oak, juniper, cedars, pinion and Ponderosa pines with willows along the river. The Sinclairs wanted to keep as much of the property in its natural state as possible.

“There was always a sense of magic and wonder at finding surprises in the natural world. The children had a kind of independence at Cascabel that they didn’t have the rest of the year back in the city. Once they got to a certain age, they ran out the door and you didn’t see them until they were hungry.” – Emily Sinclair

Over the next two decades, working with the late Peter Dominick, a noted Denver architect, the Sinclairs built their family compound and private fishing club at the center of Cascabel. Dominick designed a custom, log home for Emily and her family and a Norwegian-style chalet with a grass roof for Robert and his family, which he located at either end of the compound and apart from the guest cabins and Day House in the middle of the enclave.

The gravel pit became a lovely two-acre pond where the Sinclair children and their friends learned to fish and canoe. On the banks of the pond, they built boats of scrap lumber to launch upon the water.

“At the end of the day, we’d all circle up in the Day House and have dinner at the large community table. And everybody would be talking about what they did that day. To me, that’s what it was all about.”- Robert Sinclair

Deeded Acres: 318±

Total Leased Acres: 0±

Total Acres: 318±

Facts at a glance
Acreage: 318± deeded
Address: 45045 Sanborn Park Road, Norwood, CO 81423
Lower San Miguel River: 3+ miles, including both banks.
Elevation: 6,400 feet above sea level
Area towns: 8 miles north of Norwood, CO; 28 miles northwest of Telluride, CO; 61 miles southwest of Montrose, CO
Airports:  Montrose Regional Airport, daily flights on major carriers to Denver, Dallas, other points; Telluride Regional Airport, general aviation with jet-capable runway
Counties: San Miguel and Montrose
Elevation: 6,400 feet above sea level
Property division: Eight tracts, including seven 35-acre± tracts and one 72-acre± tract
Bluff View: 2,377± sq. ft. custom-built, 3-bed/3-bath lodgepole pine log home with pool
Woodbine: 3,451± sq. ft. custom-built, 3-bed/3-bath Norwegian-style wood home on pond
Artist’s Studio: 800± sq. ft. structureGuest Cabins: Four, including one duplex
Day House:  1,528± sq. ft. clubhouse with commercial kitchen, indoor/outdoor dining for 30+
Pool Pavilion: 1,712± sq. ft. two-story building with upper-level open-air dining room, food prep areas, changing rooms, bathrooms, spa and outdoor pool
Manager’s House: 1,288± sq. ft., 3-bed/2-bath, with attached two-car garage, a mudroom/office, and game room above the garage
Office, utility buildings
Sleeping capacity: 30 people
Water rights: Three wells; wells permitted for undeveloped tracts
Ponds: Two stocked
Roads: Two miles maintained
Internet: T1 Internet access

Area Attractions
Telluride
Historic and happening, Telluride is home to superb winter skiing, a thriving cultural arts scene, world-class restaurants and more than a few artists, writers and actors. A former mining town named after tellurium, a metalloid element never actually found here, Telluride is today at the center of southwestern Colorado’s cultural and winter sports scene. A free gondola connects Telluride to Mountain Village at the base of the ski area. 

Ouray
Ouray likes to call itself the “Switzerland of America” and in fact, this former mining town nestled in a valley surrounded on three sides by steep peaks is as quaintly beautiful as it is historic. Two-thirds of the town’s original Victorian buildings have been preserved. People come to Ouray for ice-climbing and for the natural hot springs.  Though only 10 miles northeast of Telluride, because of the mountainous terrain, the drive between the two towns is more than 50 miles. 

Moab, Utah
Home to two of America’s most famous national parks, Moab is less than two hours west of Cascabel through the Paradox Valley and over the La Sal mountains.

Arches National Park, located just five miles north of Moab, boasts the world’s largest concentration of natural sandstone arches—more than 2,000 in all—along with an awe-inspiring variety of natural geological formations.

The vastness and amazing diversity of Canyonlands National Park, 32 miles from Moab, boggle the mind and offer endless opportunities for hiking, camping and whitewater rafting through Cataract Canyon.

The Black Canyon of the Gunnison near Montrose is, as the National Park Service notes, “big enough to be overwhelming and still intimate enough to feel the pulse of time.” With its steep cliffs and rock spires, the canyon tests hikers while fishermen, boaters, and kayakers find challenges on the river.

Websites and Resources
Montrose County Government
San Miguel County Government
Telluride.com
Montrose Regional Airport
Telluride Travel
Discover Moab, Utah
Colorado Parks & Wildlife 

On a topo map, Cascabel looks like a long, narrow and slightly bent box tied with a ribbon. The ribbon is the San Miguel River and the box contains 318± acres of the very best land in the valley. The river runs through seven of the property’s eight tracts. The eighth tract, conceived as a possible future home site, is several hundred feet above the river and has a spectacular view of the water and the San Miguel Canyon.

Even though Cascabel has always been a family retreat, the Sinclairs also operated Cascabel Club, a private fishing club, on the property for about 18 years. The Day House, guest cabins, Pavilion and pool formed the core of the Cascabel Club. Since 2008, the Sinclairs have used those facilities and accommodations exclusively for family and friends.

Woodbine Chalet
Woodbine, a Norwegian-style chalet, was built into a cut in the hillside high above the river. It has an authentic grass roof with a pitch so perfectly calculated that from a distance, the home appears to be part of the hill itself. The roof keeps the home warm in the winter and cool in the summer – and is a great place for gazing at the stars.

Located in Tract 8, Woodbine is the largest of the homes with three bedrooms and three baths in 3,451± square feet. Built for entertaining, the home has a large great room that opens onto a dining area and gourmet kitchen. Ceiling beams were salvaged from abandoned mines.

An enormous, stacked-stone retaining wall extends from the hill through the center of the house. The home’s three fireplaces – including one on the patio – are built into this wall.

“The driveway ends at the garage and there is no road through the rest of the property downstream or in the canyon for another 6 miles. We really are at the end of the road. It’s very private and quiet, except, of course, for the ever present sound of the river.” - Robert Sinclair

The master bedroom upstairs has a luxurious bathroom with a shower with a glass wall and a door to the outside. From a porch off the master bedroom, it’s possible to walk onto the roof. The house also has a large outdoor living room with a fireplace, a hot tub, and a two-car garage. In all, there are three fireplaces, including one gas and two wood burning.

Tract 8, which has 72± acres, also includes the downstream mile of the river and a half-acre fishing pond.

The Artist’s Studio, located near Woodbine, is a charming one-room, 800± sq. ft. building with large windows and a great work space. The space is also ideal for a home gym.

Bluff View
On Tract 6, Bluff View, as its name suggests, sits atop a 40-foot rock bluff overlooking the San Miguel River and one of the finest and largest fishing pools in the river. This custom 2,377± lodgepole pine log home is built around a large, covered outdoor living room with a massive stone fireplace and glass roof. With three bedrooms and three baths, the home is built for entertaining with a layout that provides maximum privacy for the owners and their guests. A large living and dining area with a massive stone fireplace opens onto the kitchen. The master suite is on one side of the house while two other bedrooms flank a small living area on the opposite side. The home has gorgeous true divided-light windows that frame views of the San Miguel valley, and glass ceilings that fill the rooms with light. There is also a detached two-car garage.

“We wanted the house to feel as though it were part of the landscape and yet also have a kind of elegance. On the covered patio, you can sit outside and yet be protected from the elements – roast marshmallows in the snow, read a book in the rain. Inside the house, you felt protected and yet, you could see all the way up and down the canyon.”- Emily Sinclair

The pool and a hot tub have a flagstone surround and overlook the river.

Tract 7
Tract 7 includes the Day House, guest cabins, pool and Pool Pavilion, a manager’s house, office and utility buildings. The property can comfortably accommodate 30 people at one time in the guest cabins and two private homes. The configuration of the buildings works for both large and small groups—with central gathering and dining spaces and private accommodations in the cabins for families or individuals.

The Day House was built as a gathering place for families and friends with a large commercial kitchen, dining areas that can comfortably seat 30 people, and a living room for conversation by the fireplace. A large porch overlooks a pond, the lawn and the river.

“ We would spend the entire summer at Cascabel and every week, friends would pull up in a mini-van and the kids would spill out and run across the lawn. It was great to have the cabins because you could spend as much time together as you wanted and then go off and have some private time.”- Emily Sinclair

The two-story Pool Pavilion, designed by Gerald Ross Architects, is open and airy with timber and beam construction reminiscent of a 19th Century mineshaft. The upper level has a wood-burning fireplace, food preparation areas, and a large dining area with views of the sky above the canyon rim. The lower enclosed areas include changing rooms, bathrooms, a sauna, and a spa treatment room. The swimming pool and hot tub are surrounded by a large stone patio.

Each of the charming Guest Cabins has been updated and remodeled and is in excellent condition. Two cabins are stand-alone and two share a duplex. The two smaller guest cabins have a single large room with a bath. The other guest cabins have two and three bedrooms, respectively. All guest cabins have small, hotel-style kitchenettes with refrigerators, sinks and microwaves.

There are three wells on the property for drinking water and limited irrigation, one each in Tracts 6, 7, and 8. The wells on Tracts 6 and 8 have exempt domestic rights. The well on Tract 7 and associated water rights were decreed with an augmentation plan in 1988 and were made absolute in 1995 by the Colorado Division of Water Resources. There are water treatment systems associated with each of the wells, as well as a 10,000-gallon concrete cistern near the pump house for water storage on Tract 7. In addition to the decreed rights allowing for more cabins on Tract 7, exempt domestic wells are possible to develop for each of the five 35-acre undeveloped parcels on Tracts 1 through 5.

All of the owners’ share of mineral rights conveys with the property.

Combined real estate taxes for San Miguel and Montrose Counties are estimated at $19,214 based upon previous years.

THE CROWN JEWEL OF THE SAN MIGUEL
“The best three miles of fishing (on the San Miguel) are the three miles on the Cascabel property. This is by far the largest section of private land on the river, so it’s protected. And equally important, the natural features of the streambed on Cascabel provide the best trout habitat in the river.”– John Duncan, general manager and co-owner of Telluride Outside

The San Miguel River begins high in the San Juan Mountains southeast of Telluride and falls rapidly along a steep and rocky course to the valley below on its 81-mile run northwest to the Dolores River. The water is still snow-melt cold when it reaches Cascabel, where on warm summer days great clouds of hatching caddis, stone flies, and mayflies rise from the river. This is trout heaven — clear, cold water and plenty to eat.

The San Miguel flows through Cascabel and the gradient levels out. The river contains an abundance of trout habitat and structures with riffles, pools, large boulders, and great pocket water. Rainbows, browns, and cutthroat like to hang out at Cascabel, and some grow very large. The largest trout caught here measured 24 inches; fish 12 to 16 inches long are common. These trout are known fighters with muscles well developed in the swift currents.

The strong fish and the variety of trout water create great opportunities for anglers of all skill levels. Depending upon the angler’s skill, catch rates can average a dozen or more trout per hour. “The fishing,” says Duncan, “is so fundamentally good that beginners have a high rate of success. More experienced anglers can fish all day and never do the same cast twice.”

The San Miguel is a freestone river, wild, natural, and one of the few large free-flowing and undammed rivers remaining in Colorado. Mother Nature controls the volume of water, which rises in late spring with the snow melt and slows in mid-summer. Kayakers and rafters love the river when it’s running high in May and June, and in summer and fall the water is perfect for wading anglers hunting for hungry trout. Mother Nature knows what she’s doing.

“The river through Cascabel has a lot of character. It’s got structure. It’s got beautiful scenes and fast water and slow water and areas with greater depth. It has varying characteristics, and each one poses different challenges, and you have to fish them all a little differently.”—Mark Gudmens, Telluride Outside fishing guide 

Unlike so many Colorado rivers, this stretch of the Lower San Miguel does not have a road or a railroad track running alongside it. Cascabel land surrounds the river, including both banks, for almost the entire length of the property. For one short stretch where one bank crosses BLM land, the river is still only accessible from Cascabel because of the steep terrain. In short, Cascabel’s stretch of the San Miguel is very, very private.

Deer cross the river, pausing to drink on their trek to the top of the mesa where they graze in the alfalfa meadows. Migratory elk winter in the valley. Mama bears and their cubs feast on the chokecherries and acorns. Bald eagles nest in the trees above the San Miguel River. Elusive bobcats and mountain lions live on the hillsides. And of course, there are wild turkeys in the brush and geese on the pond.

Cascabel is in Game Management Unit (GMU) 61 on the north side of the river and GMU 70 on the south side of the river. GMU 61 is regarded by some as one of the best areas in Colorado for hunting trophy-size elk.