Twin Waters Fishing Retreat

Listing Price: $1,950,000

Twin Waters Fishing Retreat is located in Henry, Idaho, a recreational and agricultural community 25 minutes from Soda Springs.  Situated in southeast Idaho, Soda Springs is a popular stop on the famed Oregon Trail and a town rich in western heritage.  Getting to the ranch is easy by flying into the 3,500’ airstrip in Soda Springs, capable of handling most private jets or arriving via commercial air service two hours away in Pocatello or Idaho Falls.  The upscale, resort town of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, is two hours northeast of the property, and Salt Lake City International Airport is three hours south.  Located in the Caribou Highlands, the Twin Waters Fishing Retreat enjoys the area’s stunning landscape and abundant wildlife.

 

Twin Waters Fishing Retreat is comprised of 715 deeded acres and boasts 2.7 miles of Blackfoot River in addition to 1.5 miles of Trail Creek onsite.  Incoming landowners will enjoy private ownership of both sides of each river as they meander through the property.  Fenced along the perimeter of the estate, the ranch has historically been used as a cattle operation.  Although this highly productive ground has functioned with agricultural pursuits, the current owners have rested the ranch from all cattle and grazing operations for two years to focus on conservation and recreational enhancement. In addition to the meadows and riparian corridor, the Twin Waters Fishing Retreat has substantial upland and rolling acreage that provide ideal homesites overlooking the ranch’s water features, meadows and timbered areas.

Lanes and Diamond Creeks join to form the Blackfoot River, a trophy cutthroat fishery that is home to one of the largest populations of the highly regarded Native Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout.  The Blackfoot River begins its course in the Caribou National Forest and continues to flow 45 miles before reaching a 19,000-acre reservoir. The Blackfoot is a fertile river resembling a western spring creek with riffles, deep pools and undercut banks providing an excellent habitat for thriving populations of resident cutthroats as well as spawning areas for large trout moving upstream from the reservoir. Created in the early 1900s, the Blackfoot Reservoir provides water to those downstream and is home to a healthy population of cutthroat and rainbow trout.  These fish make their way in and out of the river systems throughout the year, spawning and feeding on aquatic insects and terrestrials.  The 2.7 miles of Blackfoot River located on the Twin Waters Fishing Retreat is south of the reservoir and known as some of the best fishing waters on the river system.  During a typical day of fishing this section of the Blackfoot River, one will see many 14-16" cutthroat rising to a dry fly, and a couple of 18-20" lunkers in the deeper pools, according to the owners.  In 1995, the Idaho Fish and Game Department purchased the Stocking Ranch, a 1,720-acre parcel in the upper valley near the headwaters of the Blackfoot River.  They bought this property to protect the vital spawning habitat in Angus Creek and the upper reach of the Blackfoot River specifically for the preservation of native Yellowstone cutthroat trout.

The owners of the Twin Waters Fishing Retreat have recently completed a habitat and fisheries restoration project on its 2.7 miles of the Blackfoot River.  The project was designed and constructed by Intermountain Aquatics of Driggs, Idaho, one of the area’s leading environmental consulting and restoration firms.  As a result of the efforts, the numbers of Yellowstone cutthroat trout have grown substantially and will continue to improve through the years.  Just west of the Blackfoot River, Trail Creek winds through the property for approximately 1.5 miles and provides additional habitat for the abundant wildlife and waterfowl that visit the property.  This smaller waterway currently provides water rights for the ranch and can be used for future development of ponds and further wetland habitat enhancement.  For the avid angler, other nearby fisheries include the big brown trout waters of the Salt River in Star Valley, Wyoming, and the South Fork of the Snake River in Swan Valley, Idaho, also known as the “Queen of the Dry Fly”.

The Twin Waters Fishing Retreat has excellent water rights that can be used to assist in the ranch’s agricultural operations.  These senior water rights date back to the late 1800s, providing an incoming landowner with a variety of opportunities for the ranch. The rights could be used to further develop the property’s conservation and wildlife component through wetland enhancement in addition to ponding along the creek’s riparian corridors. They could also be used to improve the agricultural integrity of the ranch in the form of productive, irrigated hay ground.  Because the ranch has stock water rights and irrigation rights from the Blackfoot River, Trail Creek and Johnson Creek, the ranch operation possibilities are numerous.  Further water rights and water rights appraisal documentation is available upon request.

The Twin Waters Fishing Retreat is truly one the finest offerings in today’s market.  This sporting ranch with an enhanced native Yellowstone cutthroat trout fishery, lush pastures, excellent water rights, diverse wildlife and pristine, timbered scenery has all the attributes necessary for a complete ranch package.