Wine & Romance

The vast Zapata Ranch, located in South Central Colorado has more than 100,000 acres of horses, cattle, bison, and intensive conservation efforts to preserve it. It's a unique opportunity for you to experience what a working cattle and bison is like on the inside. Guest services manager, Regan Fletcher. Regan says, "The history dates back to the 1500's when it was occupied by Spain and then through time it's changed hands several times. Mexico and then into the United States through several ranching families. And then in 1999 the land became Nature Conservancy Land."

What exactly is Nature Conservancy? Regan replies, "Nature Conservancy is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to preserving land, plants, and animals. Part of our grazing practices are to enhance the ecosystem that's here. It also houses a conservation herd of buffalo, and that's one of the main focuses. Well, you have an extraordinary place here. You have all the history and the backdrop. 14000 foot mountains. You can't beat it. The wide open spaces. It's a beautiful spot."

While most cattle ranches are pretty much off limits to the public, the Zapata Ranch in Colorado is a unique opportunity for you to experience what a working cattle and bison ranch is really like from the inside and not just from the sideline. Your first impression of the Zapata Ranch is of a dreamscape, some ethereal place not of this planet. Yet the next images you're faced with are iconically western. And soon with all of the training horses and managing livestock it becomes clear; this is the real deal. Head Wrangler, Dan Lorenz says, "It's land, it's cattle, it's horses, it's being able to look at the mountains and the grass, and really being able to appreciate them." The Ranch Manager, Jeff Gossage says, "It's a working guest ranch. That's a big part of what we would like to see is guests that are interested in doing the ranch work. Coming out and doing the real thing. Which means you get to earn your keep whether you want to or not." But this place is about more than a vacation spot; it also shows how ranchers care for the land. Here, the nature conservancy is an important partner. Dan adds, "We're stewards of the land. Now it doesn't matter if it's a cow and elk a bison, a goat, whatever it is, you need to look at it within the standpoint of your eco-system, and that is where the Nature Conservancy looks at things." Part of the process here is careful rotation of grazing and pasturing, promoting natural grasses to eradicate noxious weeds.

Zapata Ranch's, Carl Beauchamp says, "Instead of viewing the land as a resource, we want to work with the land with the animals that we have here, with the 2,000 head of bison, we've got a 1,000 head of cattle. And we try and work with the land so that it perpetuates land rather than being used up as a resource."

Controlling the size of the herd is part of healthy land management. Which means periodic "harvesting" is another part of the cycle; providing a truly local source of grass fed beef and bison. Nancy Beauchamp says, "Our goal here in the kitchen, in the food program is to use items that are locally grown, things that are organic and broker with local farmers other local ranchers. We use sustainable foods." So you'll spend your day working and ranching being nurtured by the good company, great food and good times. Nancy points out, "We have a motto here that we became acquainted with very, very quickly and that was: 'You can come as a guest, but when you leave you're family.' And we really try to make everyone feel that way."

And when you leave, the only thing left behind may be the imprint of your boots, but you will take away memories that may forever alter the impact of your final "footprint." Carl says, "You have to look at things from a broad perspective, the big picture of what type of impacts that we as a company or we as individuals will have, after we've lived our lives. What have we left behind us?"