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So this is a really general question. General answers are appreciated.
My wife and I live in Florida. We have lived in many areas of the states both cold and hot. We are considering a ranch for summers. Eventually we would like to be half time on the ranch and half time in Florida.
We have driven through Idaho on a few of our road trips. We loved the geography and the politics match us. But we really don’t know much about the state’s different areas. We would ideally find a place about 500 acres. Private. Hopefully within a reasonable drive of a city/town with some amenities. A smaller piece of land would be ok as long as it is private. Larger is fine as well but we don't have an unlimited budget. Surrounded by state/federal lands is good.
We don’t mind a cooler/cold climate. Higher elevations are fine. Would prefer an area with as few mosquitos and such as possible. Beautiful scenery. We love to wheel in our Jeep. Would like to ride ATVs, bikes, etc. We don’t hunt but love shooting.
We like trees, mountain views, rivers.
What are the main areas we should be looking at? I know it’s a general question, but some guidance on main features of different areas would be much appreciated!
Last edited by chillinanddistillin; 06-11-2020 at 10:16 PM..
Oh, this might be too specific. But maybe look around Bonners Ferry, Elk River / Clarkia, Midvale, Lowman, Pine, Fairfield, Ashton, Soda Springs or Oakley.
500 acres is pretty big for a hobby ranch; you could get by with a lot less ground, and if you wanted real jumbo-sized wilderness, you could buy a small property that borders a national forest or range and have all the size you would ever want.
Things like remoteness have a different scale here than in other places, and the word access has a different meaning, so things like proximity to civilization may be a bigger consideration than you realize. Things you take for granted, like cell phones, won't work, or ever work, because there are no towers and the mountains block reception. Plenty of places still have no access to power lines or any of that stuff.
And there are plenty of places where, if you get into trouble, it will be up to you to get out of it because no one is going to be around to help you out. Lots of those places are only 20 miles outside the closest city limits.
And Old Mother Idaho loves to throw surprises at newcomers. After a summer here, you could find the Jeep isn't nearly as much of a thrill as catching a 4 lb. trout on a dry fly, or doing a little technical climbing on the closest mountain, or just trying to capture the Milky Way on a night with no moon. (The stars can be bright enough here to cast shadows on the ground)
Really, I think the very best way to choose the spot here you would be happiest in would be to rent an RV and spend a couple of vacations driving around Idaho's back roads, looking the state over from top to bottom.
Most of our best stuff isn't visible from the Interstates, and there's such an enormously wide variety of terrain here that it's next to impossible to predict what you might like the best from so far away.
Folks move here expecting to be delighted living in pine trees by a lake, and then discover that the desolation of the Bruneau sand dunes is actually what they love the most of all.
Or the simple joy of the smell of sagebrush in bloom might be the thing a person loves the most here. You just never know what you like the best until you experience it.
And Idaho is so big no one an experience it all in one go, but the longer you stay, the more you'll experience. There are many places here that are so nice they never grow old, but you gotta go find them to know where they are.
So this is a really general question. General answers are appreciated.
My wife and I live in Florida. We have lived in many areas of the states both cold and hot. We are considering a ranch for summers. Eventually we would like to be half time on the ranch and half time in Florida.
We have driven through Idaho on a few of our road trips. We loved the geography and the politics match us. But we really don’t know much about the state’s different areas. We would ideally find a place about 500 acres. Private. Hopefully within a reasonable drive of a city/town with some amenities. A smaller piece of land would be ok as long as it is private. Larger is fine as well but we don't have an unlimited budget. Surrounded by state/federal lands is good.
We don’t mind a cooler/cold climate. Higher elevations are fine. Would prefer an area with as few mosquitos and such as possible. Beautiful scenery. We love to wheel in our Jeep. Would like to ride ATVs, bikes, etc. We don’t hunt but love shooting.
We like trees, mountain views, rivers.
What are the main areas we should be looking at? I know it’s a general question, but some guidance on main features of different areas would be much appreciated!
Yeah, yeah we read these stories every week on C-D.
500 ac is a bit ambitious for first timers. If you want to live adjacent to the NF, then scale it back to say 10-20 ac. Something you can handle. You'll have the access to millions more without having to pay for it every year. All you REALLY need is a feed store, grocery and fueling station. Anything more than that is suburban.
Finding privacy is getting harder to obtain these days. Had you sought this about ten years ago - you'd be there already.
Half-backs? Splitting your time betwix two states - can be done, I did it for a couple of years. But it's tiring. You're paying property taxes and insurance in two states. Gets to a point where you need to decide which state is better for your family. Getting an RV is great recommendation - you can live in it while you build your backwoods cabin.
Go to a dude ranch <https://duderanch.org/> and see how you like it. Find a working ranch and see if you cut it. Don't forget that while you're back in FL, someone has to keep and eye on the ranch - esp if you have animals.
If you have horses or cattle, they need to be fed, watered and above all kept healthy. They need full time attention.
Don't let this discourage you. If you have the $$$ - spend it wisely.
Thanks for the answers. Some great points in here. I like the RV suggestion. That might be next summer's trip.
I could have been a bit more clear by "ranch". We are not looking for a working ranch. This is going to be a recreational get away. I don't even plan on having horses. I really enjoyed the few times I have been on a horse but realistically I'm not looking to learn how to take care of them and find someone to care for them when away. My horse will be an ATV. Maybe there is a better term than ranch.
Part-time works for us. We spend a lot of our summer time traveling around the states already. As a side benefit I get to keep my Florida residency for income tax savings.
As an example of something that looks interesting to me I found a listing for Upper Sawmill Creek Ranch. I don't know if links are frowned upon here so I won't add it. I'm sure you can find it if interested. It's not as big in acreage, but surrounded by public lands. Has cabins for the family to visit. Problem is, I have no idea what the area is like. I have no local knowledge. I made the mistake once of building a house in a beautiful area based on a few visits. I quickly learned that the Florida no-see-ums were so bad during the summer that you could hardly use the pool. I'd like to avoid doing something similar in the future.
We will do some exploring around but it's a big state. Just looking for some areas we might want to start our focus on.
You can add the link if you want. There are restrictions on what real estate agents can do but browsers / potential buyers post links all the time.
That is a very nice recreation property.
Would need to plan for winter maintenance and security. The buildings have a lot of open porches. Dunno if they board them up in winter. Some of the roof might need raking to avoid damming and heavy loads / issues with leak or collapse.
You probably would need a property manager or a maintenance / security company contract. How much per year? $10k, 50, 100? Think about what it means for it to take a Sheriff's deputy an hour to get there, if they decide it is worth it and have availability at that time. Maybe talk to the Sheriff and feel that out.
Listing says you'd get the mineral rights that the current owner controls but doesn't say if anyone else owns mineral rights. Check that all the way for this property and neighboring.
It is a wilderness ranch but not as inaccessible as some. Probably 40 minutes to Challis (a town of 1,000). A few named spots in Ellis and May but skeptical if there are any services there. An hour to Salmon. 3 or more hours to Ketchum and Idaho Falls. 5 hours to Jackson WY. Find out about the winter road conditions / maintenance.
400k price drop this spring. Different interpretations possible. Price isn't bad but remoteness appears to be affecting market price now and in future.
Talk to real estate agents about specific properties and areas in general. But decide how far you are ready to go and don't be pushed further / faster than you want to go. Dozens or hundreds of details to sort out before committing.
Buy a property or guest at places 4 -8 weeks a year? One is sure easier. If you decide to sell, could possibly take a year or more. Learn what you can about previous owners and their experience.
If you are thinking of entertaining family & friends, try to guess how interested they really are. One visit and never again because of hassles or preference for more amenities / action, several times visits per year and loving it or in-between?
You can add the link if you want. There are restrictions on what real estate agents can do but browsers / potential buyers post links all the time.
That is a very nice recreation property.
Would need to plan for winter maintenance and security. The buildings have a lot of open porches. Dunno if they board them up in winter. Some of the roof might need raking to avoid damming and heavy loads / issues with leak or collapse.
You probably would need a property manager or a maintenance / security company contract. How much per year? $10k, 50, 100?
Listing says you'd get the mineral rights that the current owner controls but doesn't say if anyone else owns mineral rights. Check that all the way for this property and neighboring.
It is a wilderness ranch but not as inaccessible as some. Probably 40 minutes to Challis (a town of 1,000). A few named spots in Ellis and May but skeptical if there are any services there. An hour to Salmon. 3 or more hours to Ketchum and Idaho Falls. 5 hours to Jackson WY. Find out about the winter road conditions / maintenance.
When I saw the OP's theme of forests, rivers, mountains in connection with 'ranch', I immediately thought of the Salmon/Challis areas. Just be aware that you are 2 hours from a town of any size, but that is the way it is going to be in most place in the Northern Rockies that are heavily recreational and large plots of land. Near any town of any size, the land is going to be more busted up.
There was a great looking place off of the Pahsimeroi Valley in that region last year, in the same general area. BTW, the pix were taken in spring.... judging from the green-ness.
Thanks for the answers. Some great points in here. I like the RV suggestion. That might be next summer's trip.
I could have been a bit more clear by "ranch". We are not looking for a working ranch. This is going to be a recreational get away. I don't even plan on having horses. I really enjoyed the few times I have been on a horse but realistically I'm not looking to learn how to take care of them and find someone to care for them when away. My horse will be an ATV. Maybe there is a better term than ranch.
Part-time works for us. We spend a lot of our summer time traveling around the states already. As a side benefit I get to keep my Florida residency for income tax savings.
As an example of something that looks interesting to me I found a listing for Upper Sawmill Creek Ranch. I don't know if links are frowned upon here so I won't add it. I'm sure you can find it if interested. It's not as big in acreage, but surrounded by public lands. Has cabins for the family to visit. Problem is, I have no idea what the area is like. I have no local knowledge. I made the mistake once of building a house in a beautiful area based on a few visits. I quickly learned that the Florida no-see-ums were so bad during the summer that you could hardly use the pool. I'd like to avoid doing something similar in the future.
We will do some exploring around but it's a big state. Just looking for some areas we might want to start our focus on.
Welcome to the forum! When you wrote that you're not looking for a working ranch, that made it easier for us to come up with suggestions (because maintaining a working ranch as absentees has got to be a nightmare! Only worth it with unlimited funds or a very persistent dream of a lifetime...).
We call our 5 acres a "ranch" (The One-Bar-Ranch, referring to the crummy cell signal), but that's tongue-in-cheek. In real ranching country, private properties that aren't working ranches are usually not referred to as ranches, unless it is a developer's term for a subdivision, or a B&B place. "Acreage" is what I hear the most. Not as romantic, but there you go. If you want to call your place a ranch, I don't think anybody is going to bat an eye.
The RV solution is a great idea. We have a travel trailer on our property where we stayed the first 3 summers, determining where the house should go, and using it as our kitchen and bath while the house was being built. Now it's our guest quarters. And until our retirement, our place is for summer visits. I understand why renting a place each summer may be attractive in terms of cost and fewer hassles, but there's nothing like coming home to your own place in early summer and putting down roots year after year.
As an example of what you might find in the Bonners Ferry area, way up north, take a look at Moyie Springs. Remote, but no further away from Bonners than about 10 miles, and 25 miles to Troy in Montana. Moyie Springs sits by the confluence of the wild and beautiful Kootenai River (Kootenai Falls are just up the road, used in the movie The River Wild) and the smaller Moyie River. We looked at a property of 7 acres back in 2008, and were very tempted, but Clark Fork ended up suiting us better.
Take a look at these 40 acres (no buildings): https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...-12914?view=qv
There was a beautiful 300 acre parcel that just popped up overlooking cda lake if you want that type of view. I can pm you a link if you reach out!
Send me a PM. I tried to send one to you but it appears that the two messages I replied to earlier put me at my message limit for the day.
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