Snowmass Falls Ranch is a rarity in Pitkin County, Colorado: 650 acres of pristine, private land bordered on three sides by protected wilderness areas. Despite its rustic setting, the ranch happens to be conveniently located just outside Snowmass Village and a 30-minute drive from Aspen.

“Few properties around here have the best of both worlds like that,” says Brian Smith, the Hall and Hall broker who listed the landmark holding.

“You have this pristine setting in a picture-perfect mountain valley out your back door while still being close to world-class ski areas. It’s remarkable that it still existed,” Smith says.

Covering two miles of ­valley floor, the ranch is filled with aspen meadows, beaver ponds, and trout streams. The area is so pristine, in fact, that it was missing a primary selling point when the ranch originally came to market: Other than five rustic cabins, there were no structures on the land.

“As we were marketing it, there was a lot of interest, but people wanted a fully developed property with a massive house or a lodge,” Smith says.

“In a location like that, where it’s covered in snow half the year and can be difficult to get building permits, it was going to be a long process to develop it. The property would have sold more quickly if it had been turnkey,” he says.

An ideal solution emerged when Pitkin County decided to use funds from its Open Space and Trails program to ­purchase Snowmass Falls for $34 ­million. Pitkin County officials are now ­working with the ­Wilderness Land Trust to possibly have the property transferred to the US Forest Service to become a part of the Maroon Bells-Snowmass ­Wilderness area.

“This ended up being the perfect opportunity for ­Pitkin County,” Smith says.

“The citizens of the county voted to set aside money every year and develop a fund to ­purchase and protect properties from being ­developed. ­Snowmass Falls Ranch was exactly the sort of property they had in mind,” Smith says.

“I feel good that it was a conservation-oriented outcome. Somebody could have bought the ranch, done a lot of ­development on it, and changed it forever. Instead, it’s going to stay in its pristine state. I love it when that happens.”

Published in The Land Report Spring 2025.