Where the Continental Divide Meets the Sky

(970) 723-4045
john@buffalocreek.com
  • LODGE

    A luxurious, six bedroom lodge nestled in a quiet aspen grove with stunning views of the surrounding snow-capped peaks, meadows and abundant wildlife. Discover more about this tranquil retreat.

  • HUNTING

    More than 18,000 acres of private land for guests hunting elk and deer.  Terrain varies in elevation from 9,000 feet to 10,500 feet with thick stands of dark timber, lush meadows and rugged hillsides.

  • FISHING

    With 5 lakes and miles of private stream, you’re sure to find a secluded spot where you just might attain a Rocky Mountain Grand Slam, catching 4 species of trout (brook, brown, cutthroat and rainbow).

Colorado Fly Fishing Lodge and Big Game Hunting

Imagine a Colorado fly fishing lodge where you are steps away from pristine gold medal trout waters…Or how ’bout a place where you can kick back after a day of elk hunting…

Are you in need of a vacation getaway in the quiet solitude of the great outdoors?
Do you crave a secluded setting on 25 square miles of privately owned land that your group of friends can call home for the week?
Do you relish luxurious accommodations, with every detail attended to for your comfort?
Maybe you desire the best fly fishing and big game hunting Northern Colorado offers?
Or possibly your passion is horseback riding, hiking, nature viewing, photography or cross-country skiing?

If any of the above sound like a trip to heaven, you’ve come to the right place. Our Colorado Fly Fishing Lodge is just what the doctor ordered. You’ll be relaxed, revived and ready to take on the world after a week with us.

You’ll step back in time to a high mountain valley in the Colorado Mountains where ranching’s rich heritage still prevails.  Cowboys call it home—not the buckle bearing pretenders, but the real deal —ranchers who don’t hesitate to share their kitchen with a sick calf while a snow storm rages outside.  With less than two residents per square mile, North Park in Jackson County is still considered a “frontier” by governmental standards and boasts more than 1,600 square miles of soaring vistas and you won’t find a stoplight for miles.  Entirely surrounded by snowcapped peaks, the headwaters of the North Platte are formed, feeding this fertile valley with lush hay meadows and trout-rich streams, rivers, and lakes. The hunting is top notch too!

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Located in North Park’s southwestern border near the quaint town of Rand (population 14; counting cats and dogs), The Buffalo Creek Ranch is a rare diamond among jewels.  Whereas many ranches spread across open sage plains swept by wind-driven snow, The Buffalo Creek Ranch’s unique, natural landscape sets it apart.  Quietly nestled in its’ own private valley, its borders are created by pine, spruce, and aspen covered ridges shadowed by the snowcapped peaks of the Continental Divide.  With lush hay meadows starting at 8,500 feet, punctuated by wildflowers, the landscape gently ascends into aspen groves then rises into the dark timber of the wild Rockies topping out at over 11,000 feet.  This is where its creeks are born, eventually meandering their way within walking distance of our lodge, offering brook, rainbow, cutthroat, and brown trout to the angler, and feeding the heart of this ranch:  the magnificent 45 acre Buffalo Lake.

“North Park—a beautiful, circular valley of 30 miles in diameter, walled in all around with snowy mountains, rich with water and with grass, fringed with pine on the mountainside beneath the snow line, and a paradise to all grazing animals.” John C. Fremont, June 15, 1844

This habitat creates a flourishing and divers wildlife sanctuary.  Herds of elk call this their home and rarely leave the ranch’s solitude.  The mule deer, moose, and pronghorns are plentiful and, as the web of life would have it, so are their predators, the mountain lion which are rarely seen but for their large tacks and their prey’s carcasses left in the snow.  In this intact wildness one can easily imagine how this place looked when the early explorers discovered this area.  Sadly, the buffalo and the summering Ute and Arapaho Indians have vanished, but ghostly skeletons of that time can be found by the curious:  arrowheads lie scattered on ridges overlooking where the buffalo grazed; settler cabins sag into the soil; tenderly stacked grave markers withstand the ravages of time and beckon us to remember the young boy who drowned in Buffalo Creek and the cowboy who was thrown from his horse.  Due to divine luck, however, the animals:  the bears fishing in the lakes; the moose feeding in the willows; the elk grazing in the meadows; and the badgers hunting gophers, still grace this ageless landscape.

Today science intertwines with tradition to preserve this natural paradise.  Holistically managed with the latest biological and land management techniques, wildlife and fish co-exist with cattle and hay ranching, making the Buffalo Creek Ranch what it is today, preserving what was there yesterday.  So not only its borders but the people here also protect this quiet place—and that is why you will rarely share this ranch with more than seven other guests.  We invite you to visit our ranch and experience its uniqueness.

*We offer all-inclusive fly fishing ranch vacation packages from June into September

*During the months of September through mid-November we offer several big-game hunting packages for predominantly elk, but also mule deer, pronghorn, and moose.

*We offer six-night winter packages during: Thanksgiving week, Christmas week, and New Years week.