From a childhood in remote Alaska trekking 400-miles on dogsleds to receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom, read more about the fascinating life of Margaret Thomas Murie, “The Grandmother of...
She wore a large-brimmed beaver hat, fringed gloves, a handmade western blouse, custom boots, and jodhpurs. Sometimes she’d add a wild rag, vest, chinks, or woolies. She’d pin down her hair,...
In the Unknown Certainty of Tomorrow It is November 1999. I am standing in the Chico Basin ranch corrals, watching […]
It is winter on the Chico Basin Ranch. Winter is the best time to find porcupines as the trees have […]
There’s definitely certain situations where the helicopter shines. But cutting pairs, sorting cattle, you can’t do that in a helicopter or a bike, that’s a horse job. The interesting thing...
Archaeological investigations have documented that the San Luis Valley was utilized by various Native American cultures for thousands of years. The earliest time period, the Paleo-Indian stage (approximately 11,500 B.P....
Are birds the most sung-about members of the animal kingdom? Based on the breadth and depth of our bird-inspired playlist, […]
The Spanish word for loggerhead sea turtle–caguama–is also Mexican slang for a 32 ounce bottle of beer, the connection being, presumably, that the further down the bottle one drinks, the...
This year holidays may be taking a different form than usual, so we asked some of our ranch staff how they would be spending Thanksgiving this year and have compiled...
Water is the most crucial tool in establishing a regenerative, rotational grazing operation on a large scale.
In permaculture it is taught that borders have the most biodiversity, i.e. the edge of a pond, meadow, or any biome. The success of each environment depends on the other....
A lone hunter weaves his way through the sagebrush islands pockmarking the sand of the San Luis Valley. He left at daybreak, just as he has on countless autumn mornings...
Bison Works, which takes place annually at the Medano-Zapata Ranch, is a photographer’s dream. Running bison kicking up clouds of dust, early fall light, and the chance to get up...
For six years, Nick Chambers, aka Chef Funghi, has managed Valley Roots Food Hub, a distributor of locally grown produce located in Mosca, Colorado. Besides supplying truly local produce to...
Next fall Zapata Ranch will be hosting a writing workshop with award-winning American author Pam Houston.
David Tønnessen has already made quite a name for himself in the Colorado birding community. He recorded the first sighting of a tropical king bird in the state of Colorado...
“The Crane is wildness incarnate. High horns, low horns, silence, and finally a pandemonium of trumpets, rattles, croaks… a new day has begun on the crane marsh. A sense of...
Ranching is a trade that is deeply rooted in history and tradition as well as being on the forefront of progress and innovation. It is a trade that can be...
Feeding hungry guests after a long day of ranch work is no small task, but Chase Kelley is no stranger […]
