Huge Central Texas ranch for sale covers 50 square miles with a price tag just as large

A huge Texas ranch so big that it sprawls across three counties has hit the market with a price tag just as large. The historic Ford Ranch is located between San Angelo and Austin and includes almost 33,000 acres. Owned by the city of San Angelo, the more than century-old cattle spread is up for grabs for $52.5 million. Parts of the more than 50-square-mile working cattle ranch near the town of Brady are in McCulloch, Menard and Concho counties. San Angelo has owned the property since 2017 when it bought Ford Ranch for $44 million. The city bought the property to protect water rights in the aquifer under Ford Ranch. The aquifer supplies water to San Angelo's 100,000 residents. A sale of the ranch would preserve San Angelo's rights to the water. Ford Ranch is one of the largest cattle and hunting ranches in Central Texas. The ranch is 115 miles from Austin and 175 miles from Dallas-Fort Worth. "The ranch is a combination of Edwards Plateau limestone hills and valleys and Central Rolling Plains fields with numerous drainages of mesquite and oak lined wooded banks and grassy draws," according to James King of King Land & Water, which is brokering the sale. "Elevations range from 1,875 feet to 2,100 feet with a variety of excellent long views from the hills looking over the fields, pastures, and woodlands on the ranch." The ranch headquarters complex has two living areas, barns and outbuildings. There's a hunting lodge for overnight guests. The property had been under the Ford family's ownership since the early 1900s before San Angelo bought it two years ago. link