Muldoon Creek Ranch

Muldoon Creek Ranch is located in the foothills of the Pioneer Mountains 20 miles north of the farming and ranching community of Carey, Idaho and 40 miles southeast of Ketchum, Idaho and the Sun Valley Resort. The town of Hailey, county seat for Blaine County and 12 miles south of Ketchum, is approximately 40 minutes west of the ranch and offers a full range of services and amenities. Commercial air service and a private fixed-based operation, Atlantic Aviation, are located at Hailey’s Friedman Memorial Field. Delta, United, and Horizon Airlines service the airport and offer daily and seasonal flights to Salt Lake City, Seattle, San Francisco, Denver, and Los Angeles. Atlantic Aviation offers a suite of personal aircraft services and Friedman Field is capable of handling large private aircraft. The ranch is accessed primarily from Carey via the Little Wood Reservoir Road, an all-season county road, while Muldoon Canyon Road, a seasonal gravel road, provides more direct access to Hailey and Ketchum from May through November. Estimated driving distances to the nearest urban population centers are as follows: Boise, 150 miles to the west; Twin Falls, 80 miles to the south; Idaho Falls, 115 miles to the east; and Salt Lake City, 245 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. Most 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 percent 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 600, is the agricultural base for eastern Blaine County and home to numerous multi-generational farms and ranches. With Muldoon Creek Ranch, one can take advantage of the amenities and activities typically found in a first-class resort community while also enjoying the low-key lifestyle afforded by rural living. 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 features a spectacular landscape that remains largely unspoiled. The 750,000-acre Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve is connected to the rolling foothill country that abuts the Pioneer Mountain range. This area is still home to large operating ranches and livestock companies, where sheep and cattle follow the seasons grazing their way from the Snake River Plain through the great rift in the spring to mountain grazing reserves in the summer and early fall. This is a unique ecosystem, approximately 120 miles in length from north to south and ranging over 6,000 feet in elevation from the Snake River to the peaks of the Pioneer Mountains. Save for a few roads and ranch fences, the landscape looks much the same as it did 100 years ago.

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

Deeded Acres: 1,440±

Private Leased Acres: 0±

Indian Leased Acres: 0±

Other Leased Acres: 0±

Total Leased Acres: 0±

Total Acres: 1,440±

Conservation EasementApproximately 1,140 acres of the ranch are covered by two separate Grasslands Reserve Program conservation easements held by the Natural Resources Conservation Service under the US Department of Agriculture. The easements cover those upland portions of the ranch lying south and east of Little Wood Reservoir Road. The balance of the property, including the stream corridor, is not part of the easement area. The purpose of the easements is to protect the property’s important grasslands habitat while providing for continued livestock grazing and recreational use. Copies of the easements and associated management plans are available from Hall and Hall upon request. 

The owners’ residence is a comfortable three-bedroom/one-and-one-half-bath ranch-style home consisting of approximately 1,425 square feet. Adjacent to the house is a 30’ x 40’ building built in 2000 that features a heated shop and extensive work area on the first floor and an apartment on the second story. In addition, there are several storage sheds, a good set of corrals, and a 32’ x 20’ horse barn. Utilities to the ranch include electricity, telephone, and internet service. Water is provided by a domestic well. The road to the ranch is maintained by Blaine County and plowed during winter months.

There are five surface irrigation rights associated with Muldoon Creek Ranch to irrigate a combined total of 170.5 acres. The ranch also holds three stockwater rights and two domestic water rights. A more detailed list of water rights is available from the Broker upon request. 

All mineral and subsurface rights owned by the Seller will transfer to the new owner at closing.

Annual property taxes for Blaine County are approximately $585.

It is often said that the Sun Valley area offers Idaho’s best combination of trout fishing, big game hunting and wing shooting, and Muldoon Creek Ranch lies in the heart of it all. Muldoon Creek offers good fishing for rainbow and brook trout up to 13 inches with over a mile of the stream traversing the ranch. Within an easy drive of the ranch are several well-known fishing destinations including Silver Creek, the Little Wood River, the Big Wood River, and the Big Lost River. Stillwater fishing can be found nearby in Carey Lake and Magic Reservoir. In addition to stream fishing, the surrounding Pioneer Mountains offer dozens of alpine lakes, many of which provide excellent trout fishing opportunities. Most of these mountain lakes are found at elevations between 9,000 feet and 10,500 feet and provide exceptional views as well as incredible day hiking and multi-day backpacking or horse-packing opportunities. The area is rich with upland birds and waterfowl. Chukar partridge and forest grouse are plentiful on the hillsides, ridgelines, and rock outcroppings throughout the foothills and mountains around the ranch, while Hungarian partridge and sage grouse can be found in good numbers in adjacent sagebrush stands. Waterfowl hunters can find quality shooting at Carey Lake Wildlife Management Area and at Silver Creek Preserve. Doves are plentiful in the Carey area 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 Muldoon Creek is eligible for a landowner preference tag from the Idaho Fish and Game Department for controlled big game hunts within Unit 49.    In addition to hunting and fishing, the Sun Valley area offers a variety of world-class, year-round outdoor recreational 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. 

Muldoon Creek has been in the same family’s ownership for nearly 100 years and was originally part of a large sheep operation that stretched south to the Snake River. The current owners are retired from the cattle business and lease the ranch for grazing from late spring through early fall. The typical stocking rate is 100 pairs for the season. The ranch holds an exclusive BLM grazing permit on the adjacent Two Springs Allotment which is managed in conjunction with the ranch’s deeded lands and associated state grazing lease.