Vermejo, a Ted Turner Reserve
Resort hotel · Colfax County ·
Vast conservation estate with wildlife, historic mansions, activities
Information
40 Miles West, NM-555, Raton, NM 87740 Get directions
Vast conservation estate with wildlife, historic mansions, activities
40 Miles West, NM-555, Raton, NM 87740 Get directions
"Casa Grande at Vermejo in New Mexico, which can cost as much as $20,685." - Travel + Leisure Editors
"Located in New Mexico, along the Colorado border, Vermejo spans 550,000 acres. It's a vast private land offering intimate wildlife experiences with bears, coyotes, and mountain lions. Guests can explore abandoned 19th-century kilns and enjoy secluded camping away from crowded park sites."
"Ted Turner’s Vermejo is the closest thing to a private national park. Roughly 550,000 acres draped across the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Vermejo is the largest privately owned ranch in the U.S., spanning two states (New Mexico and Colorado) and encompassing several early 1900’s coal-mining and saw-mill towns, as well as Anasazi-era cliff dwellings. The recently restored Casa Grande, a stone-walled, seven-bedroom mansion, is one of nine lodgings on the ranch, and its most storied. Built in 1909 for a Chicago businessman, it was sold after his death to Los Angeles Times publisher Harry Chandler in 1926, whose regular guests included Herbert Hoover, Cecil B. DeMille, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford. The grandeur of the mansion hearkens back to this era, from the marble-pillared great room’s dining room table outfitted in china and crystal to the grand piano. The property languished between several owners, and it was Turner who had the vision to turn the sprawling property into a modern-day conservation-minded ranch. Fly-fishing season is from May to September and the property offers endless amounts of hiking. Staying at Casa Grande gives you a taste of what Fairbanks et al. might have experienced back in the mansion’s heyday – rooms are impeccably done in European antiques and toiles, private dining room service is available if you don’t want to join the others at the main lodge (the bison burger, crispy buttermilk marinated quail, and fresh-caught trout are musts), and staff can bring you a G+T on the porch as you watch the wildlife creep out of the woods at sundown."
"Spread over 550,000 acres, I experienced an outdoor adventurer's dream with on-site hiking, archery, mountain biking, geocaching, fishing, horseback riding, and more; accommodations range from a rustic-chic fishing lodge to a Gatsby-era mansion and private stone cottages, and I felt like my family had our own private national park—bison up close, herds of elk moving through the property, and deer on the lawn every morning at dawn—while the reserve's conservation work, including documentation of more than 1,000 native plant species and reintroduction of native wildlife, is especially notable." - Jalyn Robinson Jalyn Robinson Jalyn Robinson is the assistant travel editor at Dotdash Meredith, working for both Travel + Leisure and TripSavvy. She started at TripSavvy in 2021 and joined Travel + Leisure in 2023, where she writes, edits, and assists with other editorial operations. Travel + Leisure Editorial Guidelines
"Part of a vast conservation estate spanning hundreds of thousands of acres, this reserve is managed for wildlife restoration—home to thousands of acres of preserved habitat and a free‑roaming bison herd—and offers multiple lodges and guest houses that can be booked by room or as full buyouts for large groups. Historic accommodations include a 1909 stone mansion with period European antiques and four‑poster beds and a nearby multi‑bedroom Turner House, both serving as bases for horseback riding, mountain biking, archery, and wildlife tours. An additional timber‑walled fishing lodge and secluded guest cottages sit near rivers where native Rio Grande cutthroat trout have been reintroduced, making it a strong option for anglers and conservation‑minded travelers." - Jennifer Flowers, Nora Zelevansky, Devorah Lev-Tov