Lot 81

Start at the north end and take Tract 81 one edge at a time. That north stretch carries fence, and it's the first thing you'll notice out here, though the recorded survey is what settles where the true lines fall. Swing east. From that edge an existing dirt ranch trail enters and cuts through the middle of the tract, roughly 1,800 ft of it, falling steadily to the southwest corner where everything low collects. Water takes the same route. Four separate draws thread these 88.86 acres of ranch land for sale on Alamo Ranch in Edwards County, Texas, and once you've traced the perimeter the shape of the tract explains itself: fenced at the top, a usable road through the belly, drainage gathering at the bottom corners.

Take the draws in order. The longest, roughly 1,810 ft, drains the west part and is the deepest fold on the tract, the kind of crease where the oaks stand bigger because they're catching more moisture than the crowns ever will. A second, roughly 1,740 ft, enters off the east and bends to that same southwest corner, shadowing the trail for much of its length. Two shorter ones feed the northwest corner and the southwest. These are dry creeks that carry water after a rain and sit empty the rest of the time, which is how drainages behave on this plateau, and it's worth understanding before you decide where a crossing or a tank might make sense.

At the bottom end, where the trail crosses the creek bed, there's a ford. Worn in, obvious, easy to find. That crossing is the hinge of the whole tract: it's how you get a truck from the east half over to the southwest corner without cutting new road, and it's the natural spot to shut off the engine and look both directions up the drainage while the cicadas start back up. Tracks show up in that crossing. Anything traveling the bottoms has to use it.

The terrain climbs 246 ft, roughly 2,018 ft at the low corners to 2,264 ft at the high end. Cedar and live oak stand thick. Pale caliche and broken rock show between the mottes, and the soil on the crowns is thin. In July the openings glare white at midday. The timber throws a shade you feel the second you step into it. I won't promise what you'll see from the top, because higher terrain stands all around this ranch. What I'll say is that 246 ft of relief on 88 acres means no two corners feel alike, and the folds hand you choices a flat tract never will.

This is the Edwards Plateau, and Alamo Ranch spreads over 4,683 acres of it, rolling rises and wide valleys with dry creek bottoms strung between them. Elk, turkey and dove use this ranch, and hogs use the crossings too. Nothing about that is a promise of what shows up on a given morning. But the bottoms on 81 are the travel lanes, and if you're going to sit somewhere at first shooting hour, you'll sit where two of them meet.

Ownership here is meant to stay simple. Tract 81 is a surveyed tract reached by County Road 310, the covenants are kept minimal, and we'll go over the recorded documents with you line by line rather than have you guess. Power lines follow the county road and turn up at various points on the ranch; we'll show you where they sit relative to this tract so you can price the rest with the co-op. Owner financing is available on every tract at Alamo Ranch, starting at 5%.

Wear a stiff-soled boot. Caliche and cedar stobs will chew through anything softer, and there's plenty of both between the trail and the west fold. Late October is when I'd bring you out, after the first cool front, when you can climb from the ford to the 2,264 ft end without sweating through your shirt. We'll take the trail in from the east, stop at the crossing, and finish on the high end. Call and we'll set a day.