ACREAGE: 236 acres of mostly wooded land located in the low and gently sloping mountains around Robbers Cave State Park in Latimer County, Oklahoma. This land was formerly used as a mountain cattle ranch. The current owner purchased the ranch back in 1998 to harvest the pine timber. Later, it was learned that there is a large supply of marketable stone. The stone has been quarried in several areas with much more stone still to be taken.
LOCATION: Central Eastern Oklahoma in Haskell County. About 4 hrs to Dallas. About 2.5 hrs to Oklahoma City. About 1.45 hrs to Tulsa. Good access by gravel farm to market road about 1.5 miles from a state highway. Robbers Cave State Park and Lake is about 6 miles from this property.
SERVICES: Telephone, mail route, electric, school bus route and LP gas delivery.
BUILDINGS:
1. 16 X 50 mobile home that has 2 bedrms and 2 baths.
2. Steel constructed shop ...
2. Steel constructed shop building that is 25 x 54 feet. Has elect service. Originally plumbed for bathroom and kitchen as living quarters were planned. Currently the building is divided into 2 sections. One is a shop area where equipment may be serviced. The remaining area is enclosed for storage and general use. Building has a cement floor.
3. Old set of steel pipe cattle pens located near the old ranch headquarters.
4. Masonry storm cellar at the old ranch headquarters.
LAND: The 236 acres is best described as gently rolling mountains. The maximum elevation is about 1,000 feet with the minimum elevation being about 800 feet. Flowing across the property about the center from East to West is a mountain creek. The owner reports the creek will furnish a year around water supply, although in dry seasons it may not flow, but the spring fed deeper holes will still have water. The land is estimated to be 80% wooded with good mountain grass in the timbered areas. About 20% is small open grassy fields. Probably in the early days when ranched there were more open areas, but in past years these have grown up to timber. The ranch is fenced except for one small section along the East boundary that will need to be re-fenced to hold cattle. The timber consists of yellow pine and various types of native hardwoods found in Eastern Oklahoma. The land is sandy-loam by nature and suited to grass, gardens, fruit and tame berries.
OTHER FEATURES & DATA:
1. Timber farming: In 1998 the owner took a thinning cut of timber off this ranch. At the time timber was selling for $40 per ton. This harvest brought in $200,000. Today timber prices are down due to the economy, but at a rate of $32 per ton, the owner estimates there is $40,000 worth of marketable timber to be cut at this time. He suggest waiting another 10 years or so at which time another $200,000 thinning cut would be likely depending on the market at that time. The main reason to delay cutting is that the volume of timber can be expected to increase by 2 or 3 times in quantity to be harvested in the next 10 years.
2. Stone quarry: There are existing stone quarries on the ranch with open pits and stacked stone ready to market. In spite of the economy, stone is selling very well and the market seems to be good. There are thin layers of stone to be quarried plus there is lots of moss covered boulders to be gathered up for pallet delivery.
3. Hunting and fishing: One of the primary assets of this ranch is the hunting. This is fertile deer and turkey country with an excellent supply right on the ranch to be harvested. In addition, there is hunting for rabbit, quail, squirrel and other small game. Black bear are often seen, but Oklahoma does not have a regular season at this time, but special seasons are announced from time to time as the black bear population seems to be growing at a healthy rate. The ponds and creek offer fishing for bass, crappie, catfish, perch and other pan fish.
4. Home and cabin sties: There are many beautiful and scenic spots for building homes or cabins on this property. The services above stated are all on the property.
5. Water supply: There is mile of mountain creek running through the middle of the property.
The mobile home and shop building has well water. There are 4 spring-fed ponds. Average rainfall in the area is 45 to 50 inches.
6. Access: Very good access to this ranch as an all-weather county road corners right at the ranch. The ranch is just 1.5 miles from the highway. This road is a school bus and mail route. Arriving at the entry, there is a private ranch road which immediately splits into 2 separate roads that allows driving a pickup or car over most of the ranch. These 2 roads are maintained by a gas company that has a gas well on the ranch. The ranch owner receives the sum of $1,000 per year for the easement which more than pays taxes plus the gas company keeps the road up in good shape year around.
TAXES: Estimated at $200 per year.
PRICE: $250,000. (#70300)
COMMENTS: This ranch is located in one of Eastern Oklahomas most scenic areas. Its a versatile property with the potential to pay several times the price from just the stone and timber resources. A bonus would be the hunting and recreation to be enjoyed and beautiful settings for permanent homes or vacation cabins. This place could be developed into an outstanding hunting ranch. In addition, if you want to run a small herd of cattle, you can do it here.