Rancho Black Hills Sundance

The 2,238 deeded acre ranch is located about 8 miles NW of Sundance Wyoming in the Black Hills National Forest at an altitude of 5,500’ about one hour W of Rapid City, SD on I 90. The name Sundance evokes images of rowdy Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid leading the wild bunch out of Wyoming on the longest stretch of bank and train robberies in history of the Old West. The name Sundance also summons up visions of Native American tribes camped at the base of nearby Sundance Mountain in the mystical Black Hills where they performed their sacred Sundance. This region is where the North American Tribal and Cowboy cultures grappled in a historic collision course. In these rolling hills covered with Ponderosa Pine, Aspen & Oak, the family has aggregated 5 ranch parcels providing the beautiful setting for their brand-new western cabin about 3,578 SF, six new hunting cabins and three new pole barn shops located strategically across the ridge lines, meadows and forests. South Miller Creek meanders through the ranch. At dawn and dusk the ranch meadows are traversed by cattle, elk and deer with Boone and Crocket class bulls and bucks, stalked by mountain lion and an occasional bear. Turkeys, upland game birds and waterfowl are common sights. The mountain meadows support about 200 cow/calf pairs, stocked through a seasonal lease with a ranch neighbor. The ranch owner has built high quality new corrals for working the cattle and for shipping. About 20 miles of mostly new fences enclose the ranch boundaries. Cattle are rotated through fenced pastures. To help disperse the cattle, 8 new stock watering tanks are distributed across the ranch supplied through about 5 miles of underground water lines. The water is pumped from a spring at the valley floor to a holding tank at the ranch high point. From that high point the water gravity flows to the strategically placed stock tanks that operate with solar panels to control the rate of water flow. Up there, Devils Tower, the Nation’s first National Monument is visible about 8 miles to the NW as the raven flies. Two new shops are located in convenient locations at the North and South ends of the ranch, to support the ranch operations. Profitable timber harvest operations on the ranch have thinned the beautiful ponderosa pine forests. The dozens of high mountain meadows provide hardy high altitude grass as feed for the cattle and abundant wildlife. The mix of meadows and forest provide excellent cover for the wildlife. The ranch manager wrangles horses for cowboying, hunting and trail rides on the remarkable ranch trail network, winding about 20 miles on various routes across the ranch to the Black Hills National Forest, which offers several hundred thousand acres of recreational opportunities throughout the four enchanting ranch seasons.