Collins Lake Ranch

A magical, healing place located in the Sangre de Cristo mountains in Northern New Mexico

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Collins Lake Ranch News

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PBS Visits the Ranch

In May 2023, the PBS series, “America Outdoors with Baratunde Thurston”, spent a week in New Mexico, filming a series about amazing things happening around the State.  We were thrilled to be one of the film locations, where PBS focused on our Environmental Education program and our response to the 2022 wildfires.

Fourth and ninth grade students from Mora ISD arrived for their Friday enrichment classes to find a full production crew on site.  Not only did the kids get a day of outdoor education, but they also learned about film-making and were able to share their stories with the PBS national audience. 

The release date for the New Mexico series has not yet been announced, but we will update this blog once we know more.  Send us a message to sign up for our newsletter and you’ll be one of the first to view this exciting program!

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Cinco de Mayo at the Ranch

It was the 5th of May and the weather was perfect for our Cinco de Mayo celebration at Collins Lake Ranch.  Students from the Mora Special Education department along with additional friends from Taos and Las Vegas joined our clients and staff for festivities at the Activity Center.  After several years of social distancing due to the COVID pandemic, it was nice to get together and meet again in person.

The Center was beautifully decorated with maracas, straw hats, balloons and flags, much to the delight of the visitors.  Our staff prepared a delicious barbeque meal with potato salad and all the fixings.  They even made margaritas (non-alcoholic, of course). 

As much as we like to take our clients out in the community, it is also nice to have clients from other agencies visit us at the Ranch.  The Mora students were especially happy to get out of school for a few hours and rekindle friendships with Alex and our staff.  We look forward to more events like this in the future!

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Artist Residence

After a long, slow process (think COVID and wildfires), we have finally completed our first Artist Residence. This is a fully equipped two-bedroom home that we designed for teachers, artists and other nature lovers to spend some relaxing time at Collins Lake Ranch. What a great place to finish your novel or paint that masterpiece.

We hope to have musicians joining us this summer for concerts by the lake and this might be where they stay for a few days. Maybe an expert lecturing on disability services for the region decides to unwind after the conference. The possibilities are endless.

If you or someone you know would like to visit us for a few days or few weeks, please contact us and check on availability and rates. The magic of the land will transform you – all you need to do is be open to accepting its teachings!!

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New Mexico Environthon – 2023

On March 24, 2023, Collins Lake Ranch hosted the NE New Mexico Environthon completion. Four local high school teams competed for bragging rights and a chance to move onto the state competition. The weather was a little cold in the morning, but that didn’t stop our intrepid students from circulating around the property, looking for answers to problems presented by area Forest and Soil professionals.

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Wildfires at the Ranch

In March 2022, a small controlled burn got out of control near Sapello NM, about 20 miles south of the Ranch. Like most fires around the area, it was extinguished in about a week and it really didn’t impact our place. Then, a few days later, another fire started from the smoldering embers of a fall fire that was never fully extinguished.

Over time these two fires would be known as the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire. The winds at this time of year were particularly active and the second fire resisted all efforts to be subdued. Fortunately, it was still 15 miles from the Ranch and didn’t appear to be a real threat to us. But the dry conditions and heavy winds were no match for the firefighters.

One Sunday, the fire jumped all the lines and proceeded north, traveling over 12 miles in a day. By nightfall, the fire was just across the road from the Ranch and was starting to climb to the top of the mountain.

We had evacuated all the clients earlier that day so we didn’t get to see the action firsthand, but our neighbors took this picture as they were leaving. It looks like a scene from an action movie, but it was all too real.

That evening the wind died down a bit and firefighters were able to back burn from the base of the mountain, just beyond all our structures, and lightly burn the underbrush and small trees. By the next morning when the wind picked up again, most of the fuel was gone and the fire was not able to move back down. In this case, the back burning saved our Ranch!!

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New Staff Housing

We recently completed our first tiny house in our staff housing complex (our earlier units are yurts). This residence features a living/dining/kitchenette as well as a private bedroom with lots of storage. Guests will have access to the main staff housing center which includes a full kitchen, plenty of dining and living space, multiple baths and a great laundry area. Communal living at its best!!

If you don’t like the color of this place, don’t worry – we are close to finishing up the next two homes, including a two-bedroom unit. That will bring the total complex to six residences in addition to the staff housing center.

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