- Caribou Ranch in Colorado — linked to the Walton family — was listed for sale at $48.5 million.
- The 1,700-acre ranch has a rich history, including ties to music greats and the gold rush.
- The ranch is located west of Boulder and around one hour from Denver.
A sprawling ranch located along Colorado front range just hit the market for $48.5 million — and comes with a unique and varied history that involves Elton John, the gold rush, and Arabian horses.
It's also linked to the Walton family — the billionaire heirs to Walmart.
Caribou Ranch is located in Nederland, Colorado, just west of Boulder and about one hour from Denver, and spans 1,700 deeded acres, according to the listing at Hall and Hall.
The ranch is situated in an alpine valley with sweeping mountain views and is adjacent to public lands. Wildlife like moose, deer, foxes, and coyotes frequent the property's grassy fields and meadows, and there are creeks available for fly fishing.
Boulder County property records show the ranch was owned by a Colorado-based company that has previously been linked to the Walton family business.
Sources previously told the Denver Post the company that bought the ranch belonged to the Waltons. The outlet also reported that the principal address listed for the business was the same address in Arkansas as Walton Enterprises and other entities connected to the Waltons, though it was later changed. The Wall Street Journal reported that "according to property records, the seller is a Colorado-based limited liability company that is linked to Walton Enterprises, a family office of the Walton family. "
The Waltons did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent via their charitable foundation.
The Walton family includes the descendants of Sam Walton, the late founder of Walmart, including his children Rob, Jim, and Alice, and his grandson Lukas. Collectively, the four of them have a combined net worth of more than $290 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
In addition to its ties to the famous family of billionaires, the history of Caribou Ranch also involves some music legends.
The ranch includes a recording studio originally built in the 1970s that was visited by Elton John, The Beach Boys, Billy Joel, Stevie Nicks, Rod Stewart, and many other music industry greats. The Caribou Ranch Recording Studio was even inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame in 2017.
"Tucked away in a converted barn just outside the Colorado ghost town of Caribou, Caribou Ranch was a one-of-a-kind recording studio that captured the distinct spirit of the American West," according to the Hall of Fame's description of the studio.
The ranch has several other structures on the property, including a primary residence and five guest cabins, with the oldest dating back to 1910.
The primary residence is not currently habitable and would need to be remodeled, according to the listing. It was constructed in the 1980s with materials from a cabin that dated back to the 1860s, when early settlers arrived in the area during the Pike's Peak gold rush, also known as the Colorado gold rush.
The ranch served as a basecamp for miners during the period, according to Hall and Hall.
There was also once an Arabian horse breeding operation on the ranch.
Some of the other buildings on Caribou Ranch are an equipment barn and shop, an office, guest lodge, horse and hay barn, and a blacksmith shop.