Dragonback Springs, about 3.5 hours north of Santa Fe, consists of 48 acres in a gentle canyon leading up to a back boundary with the Rio Grande National Forest which continues on up to the Continental Divide about three miles distant and then northward to the Monarch Pass area. The center is "off the grid" and is energy self reliant, depending on a combination of solar and hydro power. Water comes from a pure mountain spring that feeds five fish ponds and a year round stream. The elevation at the ranch house is 9000 feet, assuring temperate summer days and cool nights. We are surrounded on three sides by public lands. Our nearest year round neighbor is currently 7 miles distant.
"Dragonback" Ridge
Rock Outcropping
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Between the central facilities and the national forest, an aspen glen extends along the creek for half a mile, punctuated by remarkable rock outcroppings, including this "Dragonback" ridgeline from which the center gets its name.
This room is 20 by 30 feet with a wall of windows overlooking the pasture below. A second meeting room is 20 x 20 with a similar fireplace and windows overlooking the ponds behind the house. There is also a formal dining room and a dark room ideal for daytime video presentations.
Dragonback Springs
Retreat Center
The pasture slopes gently up to the farmhouse that will provide a place for the Center's indoor activities. Then the canyon narrows as it continues to rise gradually along the creek through an area of springs, aspens and primal rock outcroppings until it reaches the national forest at the far back of this picture. Overall the retreat property is 1/4 of a mile square.
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View Northward from South End of Ranch
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Built in the 1950's and being restored to retain the charms of that era, the house features two large meeting rooms, four bedrooms, and panoramic views in all directions. Twenty five hundred square feet of finished space upstairs is all done in knotty pine with hardwood floors. An additional fifteen hundred square feet of workshop space, along with a second bathroom, is in the walkout basement.
The North Side of the Farmhouse
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A series of five large fishponds are fed by a substantial spring producing around 100 gallons a minute of pure mountain spring water. They in turn feed a system of irrigation ditches for the pasture and then flow on into a year round stream that enters Saguache Creek further down the valley. The ranch is on the eastern flank of the Continental Divide, so waters join up with the Rio Grande in the San Luis Valley and eventually head to the Gulf of Mexico.
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The Back Glen and
Dragonback Spring
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Aspen groves lead from the ranchhouse to the national forest. This outcropping lies at the end of the Dragonback Ridge formation. Small springs issue from the rock itself and join the creek as it flows through the aspens.
After about half a mile through the aspens, the path emerges northward to the boundary with the Rio Grande National Forest.
A stone marker in the foreground indicates the boundary with the National Forest which extends for many miles up and over the Continental Divide to the Northwest, visible in the distance. The patchwork quilt of forest and open space is both pleasing to the soul and a significant deterent to major forest fire threat. This is a very healthy wildlife area, with abundant populations of deer, elk, antelope, coyote, fox, canadian lynx, snowshoe hare and bobcat, along with an occasional bighorn sheep, mountain goat, cougar and black bear. The pastures of the ranch are in the midst of the winter feeding area for a number of these species.
Overview of Dragonback Springs Retreat Center
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The facility includes a 4000 square foot 1950s ranchhouse, two old log cabins, a horse facility, and several fish ponds. Diverse secluded campsites abound. The national forest boundary is about a half mile up the draw along the stream behind the house. The only nighttime lights visible from the property are the stars themselves.
