The valley forest and meadows support a wide variety of our other 'neighbors' … specifically our wildlife.  Here are just a few examples:    

• Birds (raven, crows, nuthatch, finch, humming bird, Flicker, Downy Woodpecker , Red-tail Hawk, Canadian geese, ducks, and the occasional Bald Eagle);
• Squirrels, chipmunks, voles;
• Red fox, coyote, moose, Black bear, deer, elk, and a rare Puma (aka mountain lion).

They all thrive in our sage meadows and high altitude native forest of Engelman spruce, Subalpine fir, Lodgepole pine, and aspen.

Recreation

Within the ranch, we enjoy hiking, biking, skiing, golfing, wildlife viewing, social gatherings, photography, pickleball, and a bit of dark sky astronomy.

Additionally, there is a wealth of nearby, public recreational opportunities:

• Hiking and biking on public trails in the national forest and wilderness areas.  Very nearby trails include Soda Creek, Groovy Uvi, Shadow Catcher, Fallen Soldier, Keystone Aqueduct, and Soda Ridge.  See CO Trex - Colorado Trail Explorer or Summit County Interactive Trails Map.  There are 100s more in Summit County alone.  Many are directly connected to the nearby trails.
• Biking and walking on 55+ miles of paved bike and walkway on Summit County Recreational Pathway System.
• Skiing (downhill and cross country), snow sports, and golf at the Keystone Resort (See Keystone Resort);
• Water sports on Dillon Reservoir;
• Fishing on the numerous rivers, lakes, and reservoirs;
• Dining in a long list of restaurants, bars, and brewpubs;
• Climbing and mountaineering; 
• Theater, music, public fairs (art, music, beer/wine, etc.), farmers markets in nearby Keystone, Dillon, Silverthorn, Frisco, and Breckenridge; 

 … and so much more…

Public Services

As of February 8, 2024, the Town of Keystone became Colorado's newest Town.  The Keystone West Ranch is inside the town limits.  In 2024 a number of the county supplied services will probably change.   For the latest information about our new town see Town of Keystone.

The public infrastructure support for the KWR includes,

• Public safety
• • County 911 (Summit County 911 Center , (970) 453-2232).    [Always call 911 for your emergencies]
  • Summit County Alert services (Summit County Office of Emergency Management - Summit County Alert)  [Sign-up to get real-time alerts]
  • County sheriff (Summit County Sheriff Office)
  • Local fire and emergency services (Summit Fire EMS), 
  • Summit county search and rescue (Summit County Rescue Group) and national forest service Wildland Firefighters;
  • Summit County Office of Emergency Management (Summit County Emergency Management) with special interest in the "Summit County Community Wildfire Protection Plan"
• Power, electricity and natural gas, (Xcel Energy),
• Water (East Dillon Water District),
• Sewer (Snake River Waste Water Utility),
• Landfill & Recycling (Summit County Landfill and Recycling)
• Internet land-line (Comcast Xfinity, there may be others).

A wide variety of medical services are available throughout the county and nearby towns: emergency medical, ambulance, emergency rooms, hospital, and a variety of doctors, optometrists, dentists, and physical therapists.

KWR Additional Details

The formal "Keystone Ranch/West Ranch Planned Unit Development Designation" was filed in 1977 with amendments in 1981, 1988, 1989, 1990, and 1993. For KWR portion, the general plan included 90 acres for open space, recreational area, recreational facilities, 74 residential, and 2 duplex units.  Today, the KWR consists of

• 62 individually (OR LLC) owned parcels;
• 5 KWR Home Owners Association (KWR-HOA) owned parcels, and
• 3 Vail Summit Resorts owned parcels.

There are 52 single family homes, 2 duplexes and 6 open lots.

The Summit County Colorado GIS system shows maps and details about the Keystone West Ranch sub division.  Here is a summary (as of 2022-09-27) for each KWR subdivision:

• KWR sub:  3 parcels ( "Tract F" and 2 other vacant open space parcels) , 0 homes, 0 duplexes, 0 single family homes. All owned by "Vail Summit Resorts, INC".  
• KWR Sub Phase 1:  6 parcels (Lots/Units 3500, 3501, 3502, 3504, 3503R, and a KWR-HOA common area),  1 single family home, 2 duplexes, and no empty lots, and 3 garage buildings (with 2 garage spaces per building.  All garages are owned by KWR-HOA who assigned 5 of 6 garage spaces, one each to the 5 units.  The sixth garage space is unassigned. 
• KWR Sub Phase 2:  15 parcels (Lot 1 to 14, and a KWR-HOA Common Area), 12 single family homes and 2 empty lots
• KWR Sub Phase 3:  6 parcels (Lot 3505, 3506, 3507, 3508, 3509, and a KWR-HOA Common Area)  5 single family homes and no empty lots.
• KWR Sub Phase 4:  11 parcels (Lot 3510 to 3519 and a KWR-HOA Common Area)  8 single family homes and 2 empty lot.
• KWR Sub Phase 5:  29 parcels (Lot E-1 to E-28 and a KWR-HOA Common Area)  26 single family homes and 2 empty lots.

Thus, there are:

• KWR Parcels:  70 (3+6+15+6+11+29 in initial phase and Phase 1 to 5).  Note, the 3 parcels, that are owned by Vail summit Resorts, Inc., are not managed by the KWR-HOA.
• KWR HOA managed parcels:  67 (6+15+6+11+29 in Phases 1 to 5)
• KWR HOA Owned parcels:  5 (1+1+1+1+1 in Phases 1 to 5)
• KWR HOA member parcels:  62 (5+14+5+10+28 in Phases 1 to 5).  Six of these are open lots. 
• KWR HOA member parcels with homes:  56 (5+12+5+8+26 in Phases 1 to 5);

Because 4 KWR HOA members own 1 neighboring parcel each, there are just 58 different KWR HOA members (aka "West Ranch Unit" members).  

It is interesting to note, the KWR-HOA owned 5 parcels account for over 80% of the KWR-HOA managed land:  about 30+ acres of KWR-HOA land and 6 acres of member/home-owner land.