Godbold Rideout Ranch

Location Godbold Rideout Ranch is located 25 miles south of Marfa, Texas off paved Casa Piedra Road (FM169) with deeded access before and after the bridge over Cottonwood lined Alamito Creek. The pavement on Casa Piedra Road ends just past the bridge where it goes for another 40 miles to the north entrance to Big Bend Ranch State Park and to the river road east of Presidio accessing hundreds of thousands of acres of public lands and the Rio Grande River. Acreage 1,535.35 acres in Presidio County. Description Godbold Rideout Ranch is in the Chihuahuan Desert of Texas, comprised of mid-elevation grasslands and scrubland of basin range topography between the Davis Mountains to the north, the Chinati Mountains to the west, and the Rio Grande River on the south. The ranch is located adjacent to large properties in the Alamito Creek Drainage and is part of the original Godbold Rideout Ranch. This ranch is also near to Plata, an historic abandoned farming community that provided produce, cotton, and corn for the large silver operations at Shafter at the turn of the 19th century. The Alamito Creek Preserve, owned and operated by the Dixon Water Foundation, is next door, providing opportunities for birding and hiking along its 2 miles of Cottonwood-lined Alamito Creek during open guided tours. Habitat The landscape is wide-open rolling grass and scrubland surrounded by rugged mountain ranges which can be seen from most places on the property. Historic ranching country of the Old West, the Godbold Rideout Ranch has maintained much of the environment and appearance of times past. This vast area lies in a narrow elevation range between 3,813 and 4,084 feet, allowing for mix of vegetation from the mid to lower Chihuahuan Desert such as Spanish dagger, yucca, creosote and cholla with a mix of blue grama, black grama, bear grass, and sideoats grama with scattered brush. Dunman Creek, which runs across the ranch, is a tributary of Alamito Creek where you have heavier brush like mesquite, desert willow, white brush, catclaw, and some oaks and juniper. Wildlife This property is home to many species of birds, raptors, songbirds, and game birds such as blue (Scaled) quail, mourning dove, and white wing dove, as well as larger wildlife of the desert such as desert mule deer, audad, and javelina. The brush and grasses provide excellent habitat for these game and non-game animals. This is Chihuahuan Desert hunting land at its best and a nature lovers dream. Improvements The ranch is fenced and has a working well. There are a series of roads and some excellent building sites in the hills with nearby electricity. Water The Alamito Creek watershed has some of the most prolific groundwater systems in the area. There is one well on the ranch and an old hand dug well. Ground water is shallow and very abundant.