McKeen Farm & Ranch

The historic McKeen Farm and Ranch has been owned and operated by the same family since 1900.

Located on the banks of the San Francisco River, the ranch offers a rare opportunity to own one of the most beautiful and well maintained small cattle ranches in western New Mexico.

Consisting of almost 500 acres of deeded land and the USFS Cedar Breaks grazing allotment, the McKeen Farm & Ranch is easily accessible from highway 180 approximately 2.5 miles north of Alma, New Mexico.

The property has been operated as a cattle ranch and hay farm but offers multifaceted opportunities.

With secured irrigation rights out of the San Francisco River, the fertile soil can support a multitude of crops or a homesteader’s paradise.

Its location is ideal for a corporate retreat, dude ranch, summer camp, wedding venue or a base for big game hunting in the Gila Wilderness.

The 145 head USFS forest allotment is contiguous to the Ranch and the current owners supplement cattle income with the sale of hay.

The ranch is enrolled in the E-Plus elk tag program providing additional recreational opportunity and potential income streams.

Location &

The McKeen Farm & Ranch is located near Alma, New Mexico in the San Francisco River Valley and within the Gila National Forest.

To access the headquarters, travel north on Highway 180 from Alma, NM approximately 2.5 miles, turn left onto Brunson Rd.

Access to the USFS, Cedar Breaks grazing allotment is from various routes along Highway 180 to the east, and west of the San Francisco river through the headquarters property.

Highway 180 bisects the ranch and offers paved access to headquarters while multiple county maintained dirt roads make the forest allotment easily accessible from the paved highway.

The McKeen family were some of the earliest settlers of the San Francisco River Valley and have owned the Ranch since 1900.

Originally known as the WS Ranch, the current owners took over operation of the ranch in 1962.

The owners have made continuous improvement to the ranch for the past 64 years.

The current hay fields were leveled in the 1970s and concrete poured in the irrigation ditches.

The irrigation diversion dam was rebuilt in 1994.

The spacious owners residence was constructed in 1969.

The ranch style residence includes an indoor brick oven/grill, tennis and basketball courts, park area with picnic tables and pond.

This property is home to a several acre Upper Mogollon Archaeological Site dating back to 800-1300 CE.

120 Acres – Home, Corrals, Rec area, field 40 Acres – Hay Barn, Field 40 Acres – SE Parcel, WS Site 40 Acres – N.

River/Mesa Parcel 34.2 Acres – S.

River/Mesa Parcel (after 5.8 acre homesite removed) 157 Acres – Keller Canyon inholding 73.5 Acres – Alma Flat (16A) partial inholding 469.66 Total Fee Simple Acreage 11,377 Acres – Cedar Breaks Forest Allotment 11,846 Total Acreage Carrying Capacity: 145 CYL – forest allotment permitted & authorized 100 CYL- deeded w/ irrigated pasture – dependent on growing season 245 CYL – total carrying capacity * The ranch is currently stocked with 65 head of black angus x cattle.

** NEPA is complete *** Current grazing fees for Forest Allotment are $1.35/aum **** Forest allotment details: 2 corrals, 4 large pastures, 3 small pastures (traps), 3 solar powered wells, 4 large steel rim storage tanks, 9 water troughs and 12 dirt tanks.

Main Home – 4,500 sq ft 4 bedroom 3 bath Hay Barn – 70’ x 100’ Storage Building – 40’x100’ Garage & Fuel Building – 15’ x 75’ Shop – 30’ x 32’ Barn – 30’ x 75’ Livestock Scale Enclosure – 20’ x 20’ Cattle working facilities – metal corrals, squeeze chute & calf table Recreation area – Tennis Court, Basketball court, park area w/ picnic tables, pond Recreation building with restrooms – 20’ x 30’ Two garden areas Four wells on deeded Concrete ditches, welded steel pipe and cmp for underground portion of diversion water Irrigated Pasture: Approximately 85 Acres – 2.5 to 3 cuttings per year (weed-free grass hay mix)

The annual 277 ac ft of water rights irrigates 85 acres.

There are 4 wells on private land.

The Keller Canyon inholding is on a solar powered well.

The main house is on its own well and there is a small supplemental well used for gardening.

The WS irrigation ditch is shared with neighbors and sourced from a diversion dam on San Francisco river.

A new irrigation well has recently been drilled (June, 2025).

There is a concrete dam from rock wall to rock wall across the San Francisco River.

The diversion is concrete and has complete control of the irrigation water.

The main ditch and field ditches are either steel pipe or concrete with 3 inverted siphons when crossing canyons.

Field ditches are buried pipes with control valves to all irrigation borders.

River Frontage: The ranch shares approximately one mile of river frontage along the San Francisco River.

Physical Characteristics: Elevations across the ranch range from 5,000 to 5,800 ft.

above sea level.

Terrain has pinyon pine, juniper, and mesquite on the ranch with various oak species and other types of seasonal browse scattered throughout the allotment.

Each forest pasture has had the pinyon/ juniper and mesquite removed twice, giving the ranch more open country for grazing.

The San Francisco River and Keller Canyon flow through the allotment.

Both host riparian vegetation.

Alma, New Mexico, has a semiarid to arid climate characterized by mildly hot, dry summers and cool, dry winters.

Alma typically receives less than 15 inches of precipitation annually.

Daytime highs can exceed 100°F (38°C) in the summer with winters being mostly cool to cold.

Soils: Catman series

The utilities on the ranch include electricity serviced by Navapache, propane is currently serviced by Griffin’s, and telephone is serviced by Western New Mexico Communication.

Internet and cell phone services are available.

The ranch is currently enrolled in the E-plus program and has received up to 7 bull elk tags in the past.

Tag numbers vary per year.

Other large game includes, but is not limited to mule deer, coues deer, quail, mountain lion, bobcat, bear, and javelina.

Small game includes jack rabbit, cottontail, etc.

Various bird species populate the property including migratory species.