French Ingram Ranch

Showing the French Ingram Ranch

Featured by Republic Ranches, LLC Story by Charles M. Davidson

Texas has plenty of rivers, but there are two stretches of Texas rivers that are unlike any others. The Devils River and the Pecos River (the Lower Pecos, to be specific) in Val Verde County exhibit qualities that are found nowhere else.

The Devils River gets, and deserves, plenty of publicity, given itsbeginning and end in Texas, its smallmouth fishery and its ability towreak havoc on paddlers. While the Devils is bordered by privatelands, for the most part, it does have some limited public access/usepoints at various places along its path that provide for reasonablepaddling expeditions. This rare experience is enjoyed by severalthousand folks each year.

The Lower Pecos River is reinvigorated and reincarnated south ofInterstate 10 by Independence Creek’s inflows (27± million gallonsof fresh water per day), and it is a different story altogether. It hasonly one public access, at Pandale, for putting in, and the public takeout is some 60 miles downriver at the highway 90 crossing nearLake Amistad. That is a five-day paddle if everything goes well. Weestimate that less than 100 brave outdoors types tackle the LowerPecos trip on an annual basis.

According to the University of Texas at Austin: “Although theLower Pecos Canyonlands contains a uniquely vital culturallegacy of worldwide importance, many Texans don’t even know itexists.” While this reference is to the many historically significantarcheological sites located in the region, the same can be said for therecreational aspects of the river as well.

Although the access at Pandale is relatively gentle, those gentleslopes quickly transform into dramatic and scenic canyon country,growing as the river courses southward with some of the mostdramatic walls visible at the Highway 90 bridge, a popular viewingspot for travelers.

In between those two spots is probably the most private, pristine,unspoiled and minimally impacted stretch of river to be found in Texas,if not the United States. With its deep holes, stretches of rapids,uneducated fish and insane beauty, this stretch is truly spectacular.

For those not able or willing to tackle the multi-day journey on theLower Pecos and who may be in the market for a ranch, our FrenchIngram Ranch listing may very well be the answer. With its seven+miles of river frontage in this spectacular stretch of the Lower Pecos,the new owner of the French Ingram will be able to enjoy the river inways that very few lucky people will ever experience.

During our trip, the only sign of human activity were a few pasturefence line terminations on the rim. Bird life in the river bottom wasever-present, and deer eyed us curiously from shady perches alongthe rim. We probably missed more wildlife than we saw because wewere concentrating on the river and her fish. Our primary targeton this trip were largemouth bass and they were ready to play—between the four of us, we landed over 80 fish that day! We foundbass everywhere, from shady banks in still water, fast running waterbelow rapids and out in the middle of large deep water pools whereyou can clearly see the bottom in water that is too deep to stand in. What an incredible experience! °

14,035± Acres in Val Verde County • Offered at $9,122,750

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