Turkey Track Ranch includes 26 miles of frontage on the Canadian River along with other water resources like eight creek basins and natural springs.
Wyman Meinzer
A ranch in the Texas Panhandle is returning to the market with a listing price of $180 million after recovering from one of the largest wildfires in the state’s history.
Turkey Track Ranch is one of the original ranches of the Texas Panhandle. Bernard Uechtritz, founder of the real estate firm Icon Global, said he considers the ranch among the greatest ranches in the American West.
“The water here is extraordinary, the legacy and history incredible,” Uechtritz said. “It is a best in class, and a rarity both. Available legacy ranches with this scale, production, recreation and history are today few and far between, scarce anywhere in the American West.”
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Turkey Track Ranch has several unique features, including 26 miles of frontage on the Canadian River and the Caprock, a ridge running through the Panhandle.
Wyman Meinzer
The 77,721-acre property includes 26 miles of frontage on the Canadian River and stretches to the Caprock, a ridge running through the Panhandle. The ranch listing was announced by Icon Global on Thursday for $180 million.
The area has a rich history that includes pioneers and an American Civil War era battle. The property has been under family ownership for over a century. The ranch had previously been listed, but it was withdrawn from the market after the Smokehouse Creek Fire damaged the property.
Related: Texas counties have more ranches for sale than any other state. Where are they?
Turkey Track Ranch was the site of the First and Second Battles of Adobe Walls. The first battle in 1864 was tied to the civil war and the second in 1874 was related to tensions between settlers and indigenous tribes.
Wyman Meinzer
The area can be traced back to Indigenous tribes and early pioneers. Parts of the land around the Canadian River were surrendered by the Quapaw tribe in 1818. Artifacts — flints, arrows, blades and human remains — have been found at the Caprock, according to Icon Global.
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Trading posts were established along the river, including Bent’s Trading Post of 1843, which sits on the ranch, according to the listing. The land was also the site of the First and Second Battles of Adobe Walls. The first battle in 1864 was tied to the Civil War and the second in 1874 was related to tensions between settlers and Indigenous tribes.
Turkey Track Ranch has been in the Coble and Whittenburg families for about 120 years.
Wyman Meinzer
The ranch property was formed from 1878 to 1916, according to Icon Global. Turkey Track Ranch began in 1878 when Richard McNalty arrived in Texas and chose a site for his range, according to the Texas State Historical Association. By 1916 the ranch had become the property of William Thomas Coble, a rancher who settled in the area in 1899. Later, James A. Whittenburg III was also a steward of the ranch, according to Icon Global.
Across centuries, the Whittenburg-Coble family stewarded a ranching dynasty. The Coble and Whittenburg families said in a statement that the property has been an integral element of their heritage for 120 years.
“Generations of Coble’s and Whittenburg’s have created lifetimes of memories on the Turkey Track,” the families said in a statement. “Due to our family’s increasing numbers and geographical distances, we recognize that it is time to find a new steward for this historic holding.”
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Charred grassland is seen near a road after the Smokehouse Creek Fire, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024, in Canadian, Texas. The wildfire was one of the largest in state history at over one million acres.
Elías Valverde II/Staff Photographer
The families had previously listed the ranch on the market, but it was withdrawn after the Smokehouse Creek Fire. The wildfire was one of the largest in Texas history, killing two people and thousands of livestock. The fire burned about 60% of the Turkey Track Ranch property in 2024.
The ranch was taken off the market so that it could recover from the fire. The land has come back with renewed strength and about 65 miles of new fencing has been installed, according to Icon Global’s listing.
The Turkey Track Ranch has a capacity for cattle farming and other uses.
Wyman Meinzer
The ranch has nearly 80,000 acres under one fence. In addition to the Canadian River, the property also has other water resources, including eight major creek basins and natural springs. The Ogallala Aquifer is beneath the land and the property has 64 water wells. In the 1950s, the families started to create dams to reinforce the land’s soil, water and biodiversity in response to a period of drought.
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The property includes a 25% mineral stake, according to the listing. Additionally, the area may lend itself to carbon sequestration and future oil and gas development.
Turkey Track Ranch has an abundance of wildlife, according to the property’s new $180 million listing.
Icon Global
The ranch isn’t famous for being famous, but for being a private asset, Uechtritz said.
The Turkey Track Ranch has a capacity for cattle farming and other uses.
Icon Global
Turkey Track Ranch includes 26 miles of frontage on the Canadian River along with other water resources like eight creek basins and natural springs.
Wyman Meinzer
Turkey Track Ranch includes 26 miles of frontage on the Canadian River along with other water resources like eight creek basins and natural springs.
Wyman Meinzer
Across centuries, the Whittenburg-Coble family stewarded a ranching dynasty at Turkey Track Ranch.
Wyman Meinzer
“It has never been marketed or commercialized as a brand, nor has it been controversial,” he said. “It is simply revered and respected for being good, diverse, stout and solid. It is both beautiful and productive and has been well managed at every level, evidenced by its cattle carrying capacity and abundance of wildlife.”
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