The Ranch
In 1868 Louis Holst founded what is now known as the Eagle Rock Ranch. Since that date and now for more than 150 years the Eagle Rock Ranch has been run as a working cattle ranch and hay operation - one of the few remaining working cattle ranches in South Park. Our water rights are some of the most senior in the Valley and are referred to as “Territorial Rights” as they were established well before Colorado became a state in 1876.
The Eagle Rock Ranch is located in the Colorado High Country – South Park to be precise – the 1,000+ square-mile grassland flat situated at 10,000 feet elevation within the basin formed by the Park Range on the north, the Mosquito Range to the west, Thirty-Nine Mile Mountain on the south, and the Tarryall Range on the east. The ranch is almost exactly in the center of Colorado – in fact if you draw two diagonal lines connecting the four corners of Colorado – the point at which the lines cross is just within a few miles of the ranch headquarters. The headwaters of the South Platte River are within a few miles of the ranch and we are approximately 70 miles southwest of Denver and the same distance northwest of Colorado Springs.
The ranch is situated along Tarryall Creek on what is known locally as the Tarryall Road which was a historically important transportation link between Colorado City (now part of Colorado Springs) and the mining camps of Fairplay, Leadville, Breckenridge, etc. The ranch was first settled in 1868 by a prospector who came to Colorado seeking his fortune in the nearby gold mining towns of Leadville and Fairplay. But the profitable gold claims were quickly taken, leaving the late-comers empty-handed in terms of gold prospecting. Stockraising soon became a viable option to feed both themselves as well as the growing population in the mining camps, etc.
Enterprising ranchers claimed land near reliable water sources and natural hay meadows, established their homesteads, and began raising cattle and growing hay. Hay production played a highly significant role in the growth of the South Park area during the 1880s. In 1884, the Rocky Mountain News reported that:
... the agricultural domain of Park County is chiefly in that most beautiful high valley known as South Park. . . . The chief product of this region is hay, the quality of which is unsurpassed by any known, if indeed it is not superior to any other. It is the native grass of the country, which runs to a bright green color. Horses and cattle will trample over the best timothy and clover to get this native hay of the parks.
Local legend has it that area hay became so renowned that it was sent by railroad to the East Coast where it was shipped to the Russian Czars and also the Queen of England who fed it to their horses.
Ownership of the ranch today is held by Dave and Jean Gottenborg who currently make their home at the Eagle Rock Ranch where they run a cow/calf and haying operation. Since acquiring the ranch in 2012, the Gottenborgs have significantly expanded the geographical area of the ranch by acquiring numerous private leases and BLM & USFS forest grazing permits. The ranch thus currently operates on a combination of private deeded ground, private and government grazing leases totaling approximately 60,000 acres. Current herd size is approximately 200 cow/calf pair of both registered and commercial black Angus cattle together with a modest high-altitude bull breeding operation.
The Eagle Rock Ranch is included within the South Park National Heritage Area and the Tarryall Road (County Road 77) has been designated a National Rural Historic Landscape District. The Eagle Rock Ranch has been assigned a Smithsonian Institute identification number of 5PA.4467.