Connerville, OK 73460(Johnston County)

Water is life. That's why most humans live in temperate climates and 90 percent of that population lives less than 2.5 miles from surface water. It's our comfort zone. That's why water features are always in demand on our ranches. But not all water is the same. Some places have crystal clear, gently flowing rivers that cause us to experience a feeling of peace and tranquility. Pretty lakes are not uncommon and the desire to own a great fishing spot is almost universal. The sound of waterfall or even that of a babbling brook can mesmerize us and completely distract us from the worries of the world. Springs, on the other hand, can fully engage our minds as we ponder the mysteries of their existence and the origin of the water that continually discharges from them. A lot of ranches have nice creeks and ponds, a very few have crystal clear rivers, even fewer have waterfalls and the ones with significant springs on them are rarer than hen's teeth. We know of only one ranch that has all the above.

Arbuckle Springs Ranch is 160 acres packed with the rarest and highest quality water features that we've seen in 15 years of looking at tens of thousands of acres of land in Oklahoma. The property is located at the secluded end of a quiet, dead-end road near Connerville, OK. Its only 100 miles from either OKC or Dallas and you can drive to within a mile of the entry gate on paved roads. When you first drive in the property, it looks just like so much of Johnston County; prairie grass, sand plums, post oaks, a little cactus growing here and there. But just a short distance along the curving driveway you see a little rock cabin beneath giant pine and pecan trees. Beyond it, you get your first glimpse of a 4.8 acre spring fed lake. It is crystal clear all the way to the bottom. You can stand on the dock and watch the fish swim by. Catch one and you will see the vibrant, beautiful color that fish living in spring water exhibit. Because of the clarity, vegetation grows well in the pond, creating a very productive fishery. Winter and early spring offers you the opportunity to fish the submerged grass beds. Once the lily pads unfurl their leaves, you will be hopping frogs and other soft topwater baits across the surface.

The southern border of the property is graced by the flow of the Blue River. With 1/2 mile of the river flowing completely inside the property boundaries, you have the rare pleasure of enjoying the river with no neighbors in sight. This stretch of river has beautiful walnut and pecan trees growing along its shady banks and in places has a thick buffer of river cane. The riverbed is a combination of shallow riffles, chutes, small travertine islands and two waterfalls that connect two deep holes in the river. The largest swimming hole is almost an acre in size. During base flow, the water becomes fantastically clear and you can sit up on the bank and watch schools of fish swim past. Black bass, smallmouth bass, trout, and perch have all been caught in this part of the river. In addition, huge schools of sucker fish appear to levitate motionless in the deep clear pools.

The reason the water is so clear is that much of the base flow of Blue River in this location comes from springs on the ranch. These aren't the little seeps that you are used to seeing on other ranches. These are high volume Arbuckle Simpson Aquifer springs that are significant enough to have names: Barnett, Shadowfax, Bilbo and Nelson Springs are all on the property. Blue River is a modest sized stream as it enters the ranch, but the addition of flow from the six major springs on the ranch changes all of that quickly. Nelson Spring is the first spring that discharges into the river from the ranch. It boils up through a gravel bed at a flow rate high enough that the pebbles dance and float in the flow. This spring creates its own creek that runs at more than 1000 gpm over a length of about 150 feet until it intersects with the river. At that confluence of this creek and the river, you can visually see that this one spring is supplying about one third of the flow of the river. Just a few feet down river, another creek fed by multiple small springs adds almost as much flow as Nelson Spring. The next inflow of spring water comes from a long line of springs that emerge from the depths of the aquifer in a creek that runs parallel to Blue River for a thousand feet. The largest spring in this stretch boils water up approximately 6 inches high above the surface of the creek and appears to be ejecting huge chunks of quartz from the depths of the aquifer. In total, untold thousands of gallons per minute flow from a multitude of springs to the river creating an aquatic Garden of Eden.

If you are a person who loves water, this place is overwhelming. We could talk about the deer, duck and turkey hunting or how many cattle you might run, but those things are beside the point. You can do all of that almost anywhere. This place is special, and if you are a person that understands and values water resources, this is likely a once in a lifetime chance to own one of the most desirable crown jewels of the Arbuckle Simpson Aquifer. There is also a substantial tax shelter that can be gained by taking steps to protect the springs. If you are interested in learning more, please contact Kelly Hurt at 580 421 7512. Showings by appointment and with prequalified buyers only.