196 Upper Flat Rd , Columbus, MT 59019(Stillwater County)

Why would a rancher cut up his ranch like that? A lesson was learned from the previous owner, who had to sell the whole ranch due to sudden health problems and nothing could easily and fast be split off without going through the song and dance at the county commission. So the new owner thought this is not going to happen to him. If he gets in a bind, he could just sell off some lots, which thankfully has not been done. The ranch is in pristine condition and well guarded by the caretaker who lives in the old homestead, an updated farmhouse with three bedrooms and one bath, but less than 900sqft.

Actually this ranch could be easily made into an exclusive equestrian estate, with all those riding trails throughout the old growth section which even features a couple of ponds in wet years. The equestrian estate near Red Lodge is selling building sites for over $500,000, charging $750 a month HOA and $400 a month to board a horse. They have 200acres of open meadow to ride in. Or… you could put a runway in and make it a ride and fly airpark! Actually the municipal airport with a 3,814ft runway at 3,574ft elevation is only 3 miles from the ranch.

The beautiful canyon has several springs which feed some of the many stock tanks and all those choke cherry bushes. I never heard so many birds in a pine forest! The whole ranch is fenced and cross fenced for cattle, with cattle guards installed across Shane Ridge, the county road in the SW corner of the ranch.

The south part of the ranch is at an elevation of about 4,100ft and has spectacular views of the Yellowstone River Valley to the north, the Crazies in Livingston to the west and the Beartooth Mountain Range with the ski runs of Red Lodge to the south. You actually get a good view of Granite Peak, which is the highest mountain in Montana; you can recognize it by the prominent slit at the top. The Beartooth Range features 13 peaks over 12,000ft with brilliant white glaciers gleaming in the sun year round.

The north part of the ranch and the canyon are at an elevation of about 3,800ft. Seven acres at the very north tip of the ranch are irrigated and that's where most of the wells and their control boxes are. The deer know about the alfalfa too, as many as 300 deer have been seen there at dusk; white tail as well as mule deer. Every once in a while a white tail joins the mules, but never the other way around!

The ranch is less than an hour from skiing in Red Lodge, just 5 miles from downtown Columbus and the I-90 on-ramp to go 40 miles to Billings or 100 miles to Bozeman. Columbus has less than 2,000 inhabitants, but there is a grocery store, schools, hospital and a large gas station. Montana Silversmith operates out of an unmarked building and the processing plant for the Stillwater Platinum Mine is there.

The Stillwater, a blue ribbon trout stream with fishing access, is just a couple miles to the west of the Black Forest Ranch. The fishing is especially good where the Stillwater runs into the Yellowstone; a hot tip from an insider. The Stillwater is also a ton of fun for white water rafting. You can rent a rubber boat in Absarokee and float down the river to the Yellowstone; the hardy ones get to jump off a small cliff into a swimming hole.

$ 4,950,000