History

Willow Creek Ranch is a unique, water rich area in Northern Arizona. The community has been a part of a large working cattle ranch for many years. The 24,000-acre ranch was split up into about 320 36-acre parcels in 1997. An adjacent 15,000 plus acres was added to the ranch allotment making the Willow Creek cattle ranch area approximately 40,000 acres of working cattle ranch. There are more than 7 springs on the allotment, though mostare reserved for the ranchers water use. The Willow Creek ranch area is mentioned in many books written about the settling of the Arizona territories. Sometimes it is referred to as the Willows Ranch.

Location

Willow Creek Ranch lies halfway between Kingman and Seligman Arizona (35 miles from each) north and south of Interstate 40 at 5,000 to about 5,800 feet elevation. The elevation creates an ideal, mild year-round climate, cooler than Kingman and the deserts to the west and south and warmer than snowy Flagstaff at nearly 7,000 feet to the east. Elevation is one of the secrets that makes Willow Creek Ranch a great place to live — retire, homestead, be self-sufficient, vacation, hunt, ride horses or ATV's for all or part of the year!

Features

The parcel size, the rugged topography, and the fact that the area is heavily treed with juniper, pinon pine and scrub oak add to the feeling of seclusion. The land is hilly and rough with streams and canyons and incredible hilltop vistas; perfect for exploring on foot, ATV or by horseback.
The Property Owner's Association's sole purpose is to maintain the 72+ miles of dirt roads, and maintains a website for communicating with their members at https://www.willowckranchpoa.com.

Homes

Homes at Willow Creek Ranch are varied, from mobiles and modular to custom site-built homes. There is even a straw-bale home on the ranch. The fertile soil provides great gardens and wildlife abounds. Solar systems are now very affordable for these homes where there is no grid-tied power available. A few properties nearer to the freeway have grid power but most properties are off grid. Water is typically found from at a drilling depth of 350 to 550 feet in this area.

Nearby Attractions

Willow Creek is a great kick off spot for day trips to a multitude of Arizona attractions. From the Ranch you can take off to the Grand Canyon for hiking, rafting or just admiring. Lake Powell, Seligman (for Route 66 memorabilia, old cars and ice cream), Oatman (the old mining town where they hold shootouts in the main street and burros roam free), Sedona's Red Rocks, the Grand Canyon Caverns, Prescott, and Flagstaff are all easy day trips as well.

Overview

Windmill Ranches is still a working cattle ranch, previously known as the Fancher ranch when the travel from Phoenix to Kingman was done by horse or stage coach. The community is located approximately 30 miles east of Kingman. It is told that in the 1800's this area was a picnic spot for people travelling between Kingman and Phoenix. At 3,000 to 4,500 feet elevation, the hills slope upward to the east with grasses, palo christi trees and high-desert cactus and shrubs giving way to juniper and pinion on the higher east slopes. The POA (Property Owner's Association) exists to maintain the roads and charges just over $5 a year per acre. Their website which they maintain to communicate with their property owners is http://www.windmillranch.org.

Unique Opportunities

Windmill is a rare ranch community which allows commercial development in the parcels fronting Highway 93. Horses and cattle are allowed in “reasonable number” but no pigs. Water has been found by most property owners who have drilled for it. Some parcels here can be divided but the minimum size is 5 acres. Properties closest to Hwy 93 can connect to the utility provided power grid, others are off grid with generators or solar. Views here are long and open with mountains to the east and south. Deer, Elk and Javelina abound with occasional sightings of Mountain Lion or Bobcats.

Nearby Attractions

The City of Kingman is a great hub for day trips — the pine-forested Hualapai Mountain Park, the Grand Canyon, historic Route 66, Oatman (where they hold shootouts and burros roam the streets), Wikenburg has team roping nearly every day, Prescott has tons of history and Flagstaff has all the shopping you can stand. Kingman is also an easy commute to the casinos of Las Vegas and Laughlin.

Overview

Cedar Hills Ranch is located about 20 miles to the northeast, uphill from Kingman. There are many wells in the area.

The rolling hills have light, varied high-desert vegetation. The climate at Cedar Hills Ranch is mild year-round at an elevation between 3200 to 4000 feet. There is no Property Owner's Association fee; roads are maintained by the developer. Horses and cattle are welcome here. Many properties in Cedar Hills close to I-40 have access to phone and grid-tied electricity, though many owners have installed solar. Wildlife is plentiful and includes deer, antelope, javalina, and the occasional elk.

History

Abundant water in this dry region of the Southwest attracted ranching, road building, and the railroad. Ranching continues today.

Pricing

Parcels of land range from 36 acres at $32,500 to 118 acres at $150,000. Parcels with homes range from a $55,000 fixer-upper on 36 acres to a 17 acre parcel with a home for $106,000 to an incredible 160 acre (own your own mountain) 5 bedroom for $900,000.

Benefits

Cedar Hills is close to the town of Kingman, making grocery runs a breeze. The privacy and quiet is unparalleled. Cedar Hills is the perfect place to start your sustainability journey or live offgrid. The climate is fairly mild year round- not too hot in the summer, not too cold in the winter. The views are open and endless, providing a lovely view of the Hualapai Mountains. Despite all these features, the land and homes are still affordable.

Nearby Attractions

You can get to so many places in a day trip from Cedar Hills, very close to home is the Hualapai Mountain Park, it's also easy to reach the eclectic Route 66 towns of Hackberry and Seligman, the Grand Canyon, Lake Mead, the Grand Canyon Caverns and much more! A short drive to Vegas, Flagstaff or Prescott makes this a very easy hopping off space for tons of adventures.

Overview

Spring Valley Ranches encompasses 7500 acres of working cattle ranch land, with properties ranging from 4100 to 4800 feet, giving it cooler temperatures than the lower regions. Terrain here varies from steep and mountainous to gentle rolling hills and a few mostly flat parcels. Wells are common! Some homes have grid-tied electric but many are energy self-sufficient. Parcel size varies greatly. These properties afford privacy, miles of hiking and horse trails, mild year-round climate and incredible views.

Benefits

This community is one that highly values privacy, peace, and quiet. The land is versatile, with the presence of water giving options that other communities don't have. Livestock and horses are welcome. The climate is mild, and the views are incredible; despite being a semi-settled area for years now, wildlife is still abundant. To live here is to live close to nature.

History

Abundant water in this part of Arizona (unlike much of the rest of the state) attracted ranching, road building, and the railroad. The original site of the town of Hackberry exists on Spring Valley Ranches. When the railroad came in along Route 66 the town decided they were missing out and they relocated close to the railroad tracks. The seven stone buildings and the hand dug well can still be found with permission from the current owner.

When I-40 bypassed the town of Hackberry in the mid 20's the town and most of the gas stations along Route 66 became ghosts towns. Some are currently cute tourist memorabilia stops along romantic Route 66. The current rancher runs mostly black angus on the open areas in and around spring Valley Ranches but seeing roping steers and mixed cattle isn't unusual either. Drive carefully in the dark as the black angus are hard to spot and very expensive to hit.

Pricing

Pricing in 2019 and 2020 in this area has varied between $25k up to the mid $60k's for 7 to 40ac parcels within the Spring Valley Ranches and although there have been relatively few homes sold int his time the pricing has ranged between $200k and $400k for a mid of stick-built homes and manufactured homes on large acreage.

Nearby Attractions

The Ghost Town of Hackberry with its own post office is a just short drive away and a great place for Route 66 Memorabilia. For serious shopping the City of Kingman is about 30 easy miles away. Spring Valley is a great take off point for world famous attractions, including the Grand Canyon, the Grand Canyon Caverns, Lake Mead, the hourly street shootouts of Oatman, and nearby Hualapai Mountain Park. Flagstaff and Las Vegas are about 2 hours away and Prescott about 2 ½ hours away.

Overview

Sierra Verde is the largest of the organized subdivided ranches. There are a few well maintained roads and there are roads within SVR that look like they haven't seen a maintenance vehicle in years. This could be just because of the huge number of miles of roadway to keep up on. There is a website and a handful of Facebook pages to learn about Sierra Verde Ranches, but being so large you may want to just focus in your small ten square mile area of concern. Stop and talk to the locals in your immediate area of interest; they will tell you stories! Remember some of it will be stories, having only a small element of fact to it. There is no guaranteed “free” water in SVR, but currently it does seem that you are allowed a certain amount “free,” there doesn't seem to be anything within their governing documents that assures that practice will continue. More information about the POA can be found here: href="https://www.svranch.org">https://www.svranch.org

Benefits

Sierra Verde Ranches are a mix of 4,700' in elevation up to 6,000', some is flat and grass land like, others is steep, clay or rocky; in SVR there is certainly something for everyone. SVR is still a working cattle ranch, so fence out if you don't welcome the cattle in your yard, on your deck or in your haybarn! Sierra Verde Ranch is generally located south of Seligman and west of Seligman.

Overview

These parcels are generally in out of the way places where developers didn't scoop up the large parcels and develop them into small micro communities. Although Liberty Land does not have additional CC&Rs and POA/HOA restrictions the properties will still be governed somewhat by County ordinances. There may be building restrictions/codes etc. that you need to be mindful of before you begin developing your property.

Access

Liberty Land has its positives and negatives: these are areas that you need to be a bit more concerned for legal access of your property. These are also areass that you will want to speak to the neighbors to see what kind of other things surround you. Remember some neighbors will definitely tell you the boogieman stories so that they scare you off: they may not want additional neighbors!