1225 ac Headwaters River Ranch

ACREAGE

1225
CITY

Hunt
COUNTY

Kerr
AREA

Hill Country

DESCRIPTION

The finest ranches are rarely defined by their acreage alone. They are defined by the landscapes they protect, the water that gives them life, and the memories they quietly create for generations.

Headwaters River Ranch is one of the last truly extraordinary ranches remaining in the Texas Hill Country.

Encompassing 1,225 +/- acres in the heart of the South Fork of the Upper Guadalupe River Valley, this exceptional Hill Country ranch brings together three remarkable live-water systems into one unforgettable property. At its foundation is 1,320 +/- feet of frontage along the Guadalupe River, where one of the ranch’s most extraordinary natural features can be found, an active spring rising directly from the floor of the river itself. Fresh, cold groundwater visibly emerges from beneath the riverbed and feeds directly into the Guadalupe, a remarkable feature even in a region celebrated for its springs and live water. It is a powerful reminder that the water here is not simply passing through the ranch; it is literally emerging from the land beneath it.

Feeding into the Guadalupe are two major spring-fed tributaries that extend deep into opposite sides of the ranch. To the west, White Oak Creek provides more than 5,450 +/- feet of ownership on both sides and is supported by multiple natural springs emerging throughout its valley. Its clear waters wind beneath towering bald cypress, walnut, native cherry trees, and mature hardwoods, forming shaded pools, limestone-bottom crossings, and quiet stretches of water before ultimately joining the Guadalupe.

On the eastern side, Cherry Creek, the stronger of the two tributaries, offers more than 7,250 +/- feet of ownership on both sides and is fed by more than ten active springs. As it winds through the ranch, those springs feed picturesque swimming holes, cascading limestone waterfalls, hidden grottos, and dramatic rock cuts sculpted by ancient flowing water.

Together, the Guadalupe River, White Oak Creek, Cherry Creek, and the numerous natural springs feeding them create an extraordinary live-water system encompassing significant Guadalupe River frontage, more than two miles of internal creeks, and an active spring rising directly from the Guadalupe River floor, a combination impossible to replicate anywhere in the Texas Hill Country.

This is a ranch where every season has its own tradition. Spring mornings begin with turkey gobbles echoing through the creek bottoms. Summer afternoons are spent swimming beneath ancient cypress trees or floating the Guadalupe with family and friends. Fall welcomes cool mornings in the deer blind, while winter evenings gather everyone around a fire overlooking the water after another unforgettable day outdoors.

Whether your passion is fly fishing, kayaking, hunting trophy exotics, horseback riding through the hills, or simply escaping to a place where the only schedule is the movement of the sun and the land feels untouched by time, Headwaters River Ranch offers an ownership experience very few properties in Texas can match. It is the kind of ranch families spend a lifetime searching for, and generations hold onto once they find it.

Location

Perfectly positioned in the highly sought-after riverfront community of Hunt in western Kerr County, Headwaters River Ranch enjoys an ideal balance of privacy and accessibility. Conveniently accessed from Highway 39, the ranch is approximately:

20 minutes to Kerrville
45 minutes to Fredericksburg
1 hour 15 minutes to San Antonio

Renowned for its crystal-clear rivers and spring-fed waterways, expansive legacy ranches, and generations of family recreation, Hunt has long stood among the most coveted destinations in the Texas Hill Country. Large neighboring ownerships preserve the area's scenic beauty while ensuring the peaceful atmosphere that has attracted families here for generations.

A Ranch of Two Worlds

One of the most remarkable aspects of Headwaters River Ranch is the way the landscape continually transforms as you travel across it.

The higher elevations showcase everything buyers envision when they picture the Hill Country, rolling ridgelines, expansive views, scattered live oaks, and healthy native grasses stretching toward the horizon. The terrain is ideal for horseback riding, hiking, or simply exploring by truck while taking in miles of surrounding countryside.

Then the ranch begins to descend.

Almost without warning, the landscape changes entirely as you enter the Cherry Creek and White Oak Creek valleys. Towering bald cypress replace open hillsides. Massive pecans, Spanish oaks, live oaks, cedar elms, and other mature hardwoods create a lush canopy overhead while cool spring-fed waters weave through limestone banks in nearly every direction. The transition is so dramatic it feels as though you've entered another ranch altogether.

The rolling terrain creates outstanding diversity throughout the property, providing exceptional wildlife habitat while offering countless premier homesites overlooking the surrounding valleys and waterways.

The Waters of Headwaters River Ranch

Water doesn't simply cross this ranch, it defines every acre of it.

At the heart of the ranch flows Cherry Creek. With approximately 7,250 +/- feet of ownership on both sides, the creek is nourished by numerous natural springs that create deep swimming holes, gentle limestone waterfalls, and hidden grottos where native ferns grow directly from the rock faces, a scene reminiscent of the untouched Texas Hill Country from generations past.

Additionally, White Oak Creek offers another 5,450 +/- feet of ownership on both sides, flowing beneath magnificent bald cypress, walnut, and native cherry trees that have shaded these waters for centuries. Crystal-clear pools, multiple year-round springs, shallow riffles, and limestone-bottom crossings create an unforgettable setting that invites exploration throughout every season.

As Cherry Creek and White Oak Creek flow south, they ultimately join the legendary South Fork Guadalupe River, where the ranch enjoys an additional 1,320 +/- feet of frontage along one of the Hill Country's most celebrated rivers.

Within this stretch of the Guadalupe lies one of the ranch's most extraordinary natural features: an active spring emerging directly from the floor of the river itself. Fresh groundwater rises naturally into the Guadalupe from below, creating a feature that is remarkable even by the standards of the Hunt area. Springs are coveted throughout the Hill Country. Creeks fed by them are rarer still. To have an active spring visibly originating from within the bed of the Guadalupe River on the ranch is something altogether different.

It speaks to the underlying hydrology of the property and to just how deeply water is woven into the identity of Headwaters River Ranch. From springs emerging along limestone walls to water flowing through hidden grottos, down Cherry Creek, beneath the cypress of White Oak Creek, and finally upward through the floor of the Guadalupe itself, water seems to reveal itself in a different way everywhere you turn.

Together, these waterways create an almost endless playground for recreation.

Imagine beginning the morning casting a fly rod beneath the cypress canopy before spending the afternoon kayaking the Guadalupe. Children spend hours searching for crawfish and skipping rocks while others cool off in deep swimming holes shaded by centuries-old trees. Follow the creek upstream to explore another spring, swim beneath a limestone cascade, or simply sit along the riverbank and watch clear water move across the rock below. By evening, everyone naturally gathers along the water's edge, watching Axis deer emerge from the hardwoods as the last light settles across the valley.

Additional natural springs scattered throughout the ranch further enhance the landscape, providing dependable water resources while enriching both wildlife habitat and the property's exceptional scenic beauty. Historic spring boxes built by early settlers remain scattered throughout the ranch, quiet reminders of the generations who relied upon these dependable waters long before modern infrastructure reached the Hill Country.

History

Long before fences, ranch roads, or county lines existed, these valleys served as important travel corridors for the Comanche, Lipan Apache, and earlier Coahuiltecan peoples. Drawn by dependable springs, abundant wildlife, and the fertile Guadalupe River watershed, these Native American peoples relied on this landscape for generations.

Today, arrowheads and other Native American artifacts can still occasionally be found throughout the ranch, quiet reminders of the countless people who recognized the significance of these waters long before modern settlement.

The nearby community of Hunt traces its roots to the late 1800s, when settlers were first drawn to the area by the same clear rivers and fertile valleys that continue to define it today. Over time, Hunt evolved into one of the Texas Hill Country's most treasured destinations, celebrated for its exceptional water recreation, legendary fishing, crystal-clear rivers, and legacy ranches that often remain in the same families for generations.

Wildlife & Sporting Opportunities

Headwaters River Ranch has been carefully managed as a premier sporting property while maintaining the natural beauty that defines the Texas Hill Country.

The ranch is divided into two separate high-fenced pastures, consisting of approximately 740 acres and 485 acres, providing exceptional flexibility for intensive wildlife management, breeding programs, rotational grazing, or premier hunting experiences.

Wildlife includes:

Native Whitetail Deer
Axis Deer
Blackbuck
Red Stag
Sable
Fallow Deer
Eland
Nilgai
Scimitar-Horned Oryx
Wildebeest
Gemsbok
Addax
Zebra

The diversity of game gives Headwaters River Ranch an entirely different sporting dimension. A morning hunt can begin beneath towering cypress along a spring-fed creek and end on an elevated ridge overlooking herds of exotic game moving through the valleys below. Few properties offer the opportunity to pursue such a broad collection of species while surrounded by this caliber of classic Hill Country scenery and live water.

The combination of year-round water, diverse native browse, mature hardwoods, open grasslands, and quality habitat creates outstanding hunting opportunities while supporting healthy populations of both native and exotic game. With two separately managed high-fenced pastures, future ownership also has tremendous flexibility to continue developing the ranch's wildlife program around its own goals.

Improvements & Infrastructure

Headwaters River Ranch provides an exceptional foundation for future improvements while preserving the natural character of the property.

Electricity and fiber internet are available in multiple locations throughout the ranch, providing tremendous flexibility for future improvements ranging from a luxury riverfront residence to a multi-generational family compound.

The ranch is served by two water wells, each drilled to depths exceeding 900 feet and producing approximately 20 gallons per minute. Positioned on the property's highest elevations, they provide dependable water for future homesites, ranch improvements, and day-to-day operations.

With electricity, fiber internet, dependable groundwater, and an extraordinary network of natural surface water already in place, the ranch is ready to be enjoyed immediately while offering an exceptional foundation for future enhancement.

Summary

Headwaters River Ranch represents one of the most complete recreational river ranches to reach the Texas Hill Country market in recent years. The combination of 1,225 +/- acres, more than 7,250 feet of Cherry Creek, 5,450 feet of spring-fed White Oak Creek, 1,320 feet of Guadalupe River frontage, more than ten documented natural springs, rolling Hill Country terrain, two separately managed high-fenced pastures, an extraordinary collection of native and exotic wildlife, ancient Native American artifacts, and exceptional recreational opportunities creates an offering that is nearly impossible to duplicate.

The active spring within the Guadalupe may tell the story of the ranch better than anything else. On a property already blessed with miles of creeks, waterfalls, grottos, swimming holes, historic spring boxes, and countless places to experience the water, the land still has enough water beneath it to send a spring bubbling upward through the floor of one of Texas' most iconic rivers.

This is a place where opening day of deer season becomes a family tradition, summer afternoons disappear in the river, children grow up exploring the creeks, and every generation leaves with another story that begins beside the water.

In a region where premier live-water ranches are increasingly held rather than sold, Headwaters River Ranch stands as a true legacy property—one whose rarity will only become more apparent with each passing generation.

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