Kite Ranch
Palmer Canyon Road : Wheatland, WY 82201
Albany County, Wyoming
Farm Description
The Historic Kite Ranch, located in southeastern Wyoming, consists of 8,561 deeded acres, 3,738 State of Wyoming and 23,702 BLM and private lease acres for a total of 36,001 acres. The ranch is located 65 miles north of Laramie and 55 miles west of Wheatland, Wyoming. The Kite Ranch is an exceptional summer yearling grazing ranch located on the Laramie Plains. It borders Wheatland Reservoir 2 and surrounds Wheatland Reservoir 3 with over five miles of the Laramie River that meanders from the south to the north through the property with excellent opportunities for trophy trout and walleye fishing. Wheatland Irrigation District owns, stores and uses the water for irrigating lands east of the ranch. There is an 1882 territorial water right from the Laramie River for 705 flood-irrigated acres of native hay meadows. This is the 12th right on the river and is superior to the Wheatland Irrigation Districts rights. The ranch is watered via the Laramie River and seven miles of shoreline on Wheatland Reservoir 3. There are seven solar wells with tire tanks, other ponds and an underground pipeline from the corrals to the horse pasture. The terrain of the ranch is high mountain plains and consists of high protein, short grass that produces 2-2.5 lbs. of gain per day on yearling cattle. The ranch is conservatively owner-rated for 2,000+ yearlings for 4-5 months. With the use of the lands owned by others, but fenced into the ranch, and with the productive grasses created by the receding water levels on the two reservoirs in some years, carrying capacity could be up to 3,000+ yearlings. The cattle-handling facilities are in good working condition and can handle large numbers of cattle. The facilities include pipe and steel corrals, sorting alleys, scale, covered processing area with a hydraulic squeeze chute and steel wind breaks. The Kite Ranch house was built in 1901 and features 14 rooms with two stories. The stone house is a landmark of Wyoming ranching history and shows the foresight of pioneers that settled these productive grazing lands. The Kite Ranch offers waterfowl, antelope, mule deer hunting along with trout and walleye fishing.
