A ranch partner since 1988, Joel has managed the Bozeman office of Hall and Hall since 1989. Licensed in Montana, Joel became a principal of the firm in 1992. Joel grew up on a family ranch in Madison Valley, near Ennis, Montana. After receiving a B.S. in Agricultural Management from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, Joel returned to Ennis to work on the family ranch. He entered the real estate business in 1981. Joel has served as past president of the Madison County Board of Realtors, on the Board of Directors of the Montana Association of Realtors, and on the Board of Trustees of the Museum of the Rockies. He and his wife, Dawn, currently live on a small horse ranch in the north end of the Gallatin Valley.
Carter Creek Ranch is an expansive 8,940± deeded acre property located ten miles southeast of Dillon, Montana, in a region known for its strong agricultural heritage and recreational opportunities. An airport with sufficient services for private aircraft, including large business jets, is within a 15-minute drive of the ranch. This ranch is primarily utilized for summer and fall grazing, with its southern boundary adjoining BLM public land, offering additional recreational access.
The property features a diverse landscape that transitions from steep, rocky outcroppings to gently sloping creek bottoms and undulating benchland meadows. The terrain is punctuated by sagebrush, and pockets of spring-fed aspen groves, as well as dense stands of fir and pine, providing ideal habitat and cover for a wide range of wildlife. Hunting opportunities abound with resident populations of upland birds, mule deer, and elk.
Water resources include perennial and seasonal creeks and springs, with the headwaters of Sweetwater Creek, Carter Creek, and Timber Creek each beginning on the ranch. These sources provide adequate water for both livestock and wildlife. Improvements include a modest home built in the early 1990s and a set of working corrals.
Carter Creek Ranch offers a rare combination of productive grazing land, natural beauty, and excellent recreational potential, making it an ideal canvas for agricultural, conservation, or sporting pursuits. Its location close to the “Cowtown” of Dillon is an added benefit.
Privately maintained roads and tertiary trails make up the interior portions of the property, but initial access of Sweetwater Road runs along the top of a plateau before dropping into the small valley carved out by Carter Creek. The driveway to the home is less than half a mile from the main road. Several other points of the property touch Sweetgrass Road, and towards the south end of the property, there is immediate access to the tree-covered draws and gullies that run through the ranch.
Comprised of mountain foothills, the property stretches more than seven miles north to south and roughly three miles at its widest point east to west. The tree cover includes pockets of spring-fed aspen groves and areas of thick fir and pine.
Entering the ranch off Sweetwater Road, the view to the south is of rolling timbered and grass-covered hills that eventually top out with Benson Peak looming on the horizon. The home is on the left as the road winds down into the Carter Creek drainage, with a set of working corrals on the right. Access to all improvements is a year-round hard-top gravel road suitable for cattle trucks.
Looking towards the horizon, the ranch is interspersed with aspen and fir treed draws and grassy hillsides with prominent ridges dividing them, perfect for both summer/fall grazing and wildlife. As the ranch breaks over the horizon down into Timber Creek, the change in elevation and corresponding precipitation influences the vegetation, making for healthy stands of large conifer and late-season grasses. Throughout the whole ranch, from top to bottom, almost every draw has live water, either a creek or a spring. The combination of cover, grass, and water makes the ranch's lower and upper reaches productive for seasonal agricultural and recreational purposes. The diversity of topography, flora and fauna, surface water, and abundant wildlife species makes Carter Creek Ranch worthy of consideration.
Carter Creek Ranch embodies the essence of Montana's ranching and recreational heritage, offering a combination of utility and natural beauty. With 8,940± deeded acres bordering BLM land, this property excels as a summer grazing operation and a recreational haven. Its diverse terrain, abundant water resources, and proximity to Dillon create an exceptional balance between accessibility and seclusion.
The ranch holds prime habitat for upland birds, mule deer, and elk, boasting perennial creeks, aspen groves, and pine and fir tree cover. With modest improvements and extraordinary potential, Carter Creek Ranch is an opportunity to invest in an asset that delivers financial and lifestyle rewards.
Located within 15 minutes of the Dillon Airport, which provides service for private aircraft, including large business jets, operating two asphalt runways. The property is approximately 90 minutes on I-15 from Bert Mooney Airport in Butte, servicing major airlines, and about two hours from Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport, which services American, Allegiant, JetBlue, Southwest, Sun Country, Delta, United, and Alaska Airlines, as well as two FBOs for private air travelers.
Carter Creek Ranch is accessed off Sweetwater Road east of Dillon. Sweetwater Road is a county-maintained gravel road running up the Sweetwater Basin and along the northerly boundary of the property. The “Sweetwater” is often referred to in the local vernacular and is known for housing cattle from different operations throughout the summer grazing months.
Surrounded by large area ranches and public land, Sweetwater Creek and Carter Creek flow through the ranch at the base of the Ruby Mountain Range. The ‘Rubies’ is a short, steep range synonymous with the Ruby River and separates the Beaverhead Valley from the Ruby Valley.
Approximately 15 minutes from the ranch lies the historic town of Dillon, the primary service center for the region. With just over 4,000 residents, Dillon strikes a harmonious balance between small-town charm and a surprisingly robust array of services. The town boasts several restaurants, coffee shops, and an iconic main street where boutique stores sell everything from artisan goods to ranch supplies. Local favorites include a brewery offering handcrafted ales and an old-fashioned diner serving hearty meals. For those needing essentials, Dillon features grocery stores, banks, auto repair shops, and a hospital providing quality healthcare to the community. The town is also home to the University of Montana Western, whose emphasis on experiential education brings the youthful dynamic of a small college town.
Dillon is deeply rooted in its agricultural past. Annual events like the Dillon Jaycees Rodeo held during the town’s Labor Day celebration draw visitors and residents alike for rodeo competitions, concerts, parades, and shopping at the Patagonia Outlet Store.
Numerous outdoor and cultural attractions are within an hour’s drive of the ranch. Several nearby rivers, including the Beaverhead and Big Hole Rivers, offer exceptional fly fishing. The Clark Canyon Reservoir, south of Dillon, offers fishing, boating, and camping opportunities. Bannack State Park, the site of Montana’s first territorial capital, provides a glimpse into the life of the Old West during the gold rush era with its preserved ghost town. A little further down the road, as it traverses the Big Hole River Valley, Maverick Mountain Ski Area provides a family-friendly skiing experience, and Jackson Hot Springs provides seasonal live music, food and drink, and a hot soak.
The area's semi-arid climate offers four distinct seasons with a balance of warm summers, cold winters, and low humidity year-round. Located at an elevation of about 5,000 feet in the Beaverhead Valley, Dillon experiences a high-desert climate. Summer is typically pleasant, with an average high between 75 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit, and the hottest days are usually in July and August. Fall dips into the 60s and 70s with cooler nights and dry weather. Snowfall is moderate in the area, with an annual average of about 22 inches, and the daytime temperature averages between 20 and 35 degrees Fahrenheit. Spring brings warmer temperatures and storms, greening up the valley and surrounding snow-capped mountains.
The property includes a two-story home, with a walk-out lower level, built in 1991, which provides approximately 2,844 square feet of living space. It is currently being utilized as a rental property. Recently, the old homestead buildings used as a working sheep ranch during the early to mid-1900s were removed as they were uninhabitable. As mentioned earlier, a set of working corrals are located near the existing residence. The ranch has many building sites for building a primary residence and/or hunting cabin. The choice will be up to the new owner for what best suits their intended use of the property.
Various creeks and springs run throughout the ranch, providing ample water for livestock and wildlife, including the headwaters of Sweetwater Creek, Carter Creek, and Timber Creek. Benson Peak and the surrounding country have live water flowing in four directions. Carter Creek Ranch contains three of these headwater flows.
41B 24604-00
41B 77937-00
41B 92149-00
41B 92150-00
41B 92151-00
41B 30011524
41B 30011525
*Water rights information provided is to the best of our knowledge, based on research of public records. Buyer to verify and approve for their intended use.
$6,652.00 for 2024
The southern boundary adjoins lands managed by the BLM, providing direct access to a significant amount of public lands and the private block of deeded land. The ranch itself provides adequate cover and enough diverse habitat to support everything from birds to big game. Upland birds, mule deer, antelope, mountain lion, black bear, and elk are a few of the many resident wildlife.
If one enjoys following a bird dog in mountain terrain, Carter Creek is the perfect place. Blue and ruffed grouse are both plentiful on the ranch. During the spring breeding season, numerous blue grouse are on leks throughout the upper country.
If big game hunting is a passion, it doesn’t come much better than Carter Creek. The archery hunting for elk is phenomenal, with bulls taken in the 300-360-inch range. During rifle season, the mule deer hunting has been touted as some of the best in Beaverhead County, with bucks taken up to 190 inches. Antelopes are no different, with the opportunity for bucks over 14 inches. The propensity for large animals can be attributed to the careful management of the resource by the current owner, along with another neighbor who is passionate about having these animals protected and conserved while controlling the overall population, especially the elk.
Currently used as a summer and fall cattle grazing property, the ranch is fenced and cross-fenced, allowing for pasture management and optimal forage utilization, which benefits livestock and wildlife.
The ranch is currently used as summer and fall pasture for replacement heifers with minimum management oversight throughout the grazing season. Approximately 200 heifers are shipped to the lower part of the ranch around June 15th and are left there during the breed-up period until mid to late July. A second set of 200 heifers are taken to the higher portion of the ranch during the same period. After breed up with both groups, they are mixed and run together throughout the property for the remainder of the grazing season. The entire herd ends up in the lower part of the ranch to be shipped to winter country in mid-October until mid-November, depending on snowfall. During good moisture years, they typically gain up to one and a half pounds per day. The daily gain is closer to a pound per day in drier years. They leave the ranch in the 950-1000 pound range.
To maximize forage consumption, the optimal management plan would be to place a hired man in the existing house to remain there year-round. The duties would include cattle care, pasture rotation, fencing, weed spraying (current cost is $5,000-$6,000 annually), general maintenance, and patrolling the property during the archery and rifle hunting seasons. Having a man on-site to more actively manage the ranch would result in the ability to run an additional 200 heifers or yearlings during the grazing season. Because of the topography and nature of the terrain, the optimal cattle operation is running yearlings. They tend to cover this type of country better and utilize the range more efficiently than cow/calf pairs.
If one’s primary focus is big game hunting and there is no interest in the cattle business, one could also lease the ranch for sheep grazing. This ranch was utilized as a sheep ranch for much of its existence and lends itself to this type of operation. Two of Montana’s biggest sheep operations border or are near the ranch. Either would be a suitable lessee for this operating scenario. Additionally, sheep graze in a manner that encourages more wildlife to come onto and reside on the property, leaving the vegetation short-cropped and ready for consumption by the big game.
Quality southern Montana farm/grass combination available for the first time in decades. An excellent mix of productive farmland, creek bottom, and native range with 1,806± deeded and 640± BLM leased acres.
Dramatically beautiful, water-rich 1,404± acre Muddy Creek Headquarters is 30 to 45 minutes from Livingston, Bozeman, and Bridger Bowl Ski Resort. Nearby, the 814± acre Sedan Pasture unit is also available.
Situated in the foothills of the Sapphire Range, the 4,506± acre Bitterroot Mountain Retreat offers world-class accommodation in some of the best elk and mule deer habitats in western Montana.
In the shadows of the Bitterroot Mountains lies a near-perfect 155± acre assemblage of irrigated pasture and forested hillsides with a complete set of operational and residential improvements minutes from Darby, Montana.
2,134± acres of high-quality recreational or development ground, 19 miles from Kalispell and 32 miles to Whitefish. Multiple lots, gated access, paved approach, and grid power to the eastern boundary.
