Hunt Fifty Square Miles From Your Own West Texas Base Camp

Where the Pavement Quits and the Country Opens Up

Pull off the interstate at Sierra Blanca, point the truck north, and the country opens up in a hurry. The pavement gives way to dirt, an unnamed road carries you out across the high desert, and somewhere along it you cross onto fifty-three acres that answer to you and nobody else. Cut the engine. The quiet out here has some weight to it.

This is base-camp country. Glass the ridgelines, run the ATV until the sun gives out, pitch a tent the first weekend you own it, or park the RV while you frame up a cabin. Here is the part that sets this one apart: your parcel sits inside the Gunsight Ranch, and owners get to hunt the surrounding fifty square miles, mountains and all, with a Land Specialist to walk you through how that access works. The country holds mule deer and pronghorn, aoudad and oryx working the high ground, quail and javelina, and the odd mountain lion passing through. Hunter, off-gridder, weekend camper, or the fella whose lease bill finally broke his patience? Come on out.

There is no zoning in this stretch of Hudspeth County and no building restrictions on the books, so what goes up is your call. Site-built, modular, manufactured, mobile, or tiny home are all fair game, and nothing is forcing you to break ground by a certain date. Camp while you plan. Just handle the sewage properly with a septic setup and you are square with the county.

Sierra Blanca sits about half an hour west of Van Horn and a little over an hour east of El Paso, close enough to resupply and far enough to feel gone. The town carries a story most folks never hear: this is where America’s second transcontinental railroad was finished. In December 1881 the Texas and Pacific and the Southern Pacific drove their lines together right here, and the town was born at the joint. You would be building on ground with some history under it.

Here is what you need to know before you put a stake in the ground. There is no grid power at the road, so you would run on solar, wind, or a generator, which out here means no meter ticking and no bill waiting in the mailbox. Water comes by well, hauling, or a holding tank, the standard play for land this far out. The road in is dirt and it gets interesting after a hard rain, but that same distance is what keeps the place quiet, and the price reflects it already.

Land like this doesn’t ask much of you except that you show up and use it. Out here, the horizon is the only thing that gets the last word.

• Near Sierra Blanca, Hudspeth County, Texas: 53.24 acres at 4,458 feet of elevation
• Part of the Gunsight Ranch: owners get to hunt the surrounding 50 square miles, mountains included (your Land Specialist covers how the access works)
• Wildlife in the area includes mule deer, pronghorn antelope, aoudad sheep, oryx, quail, javelina, and mountain lion
• No zoning, no HOA or POA, and no building restrictions: site-built, modular, manufactured, mobile, and tiny homes are all allowed, with no time limit to build
• Camp from day one, tent or RV, and keep the RV on-site while you build, as long as sewage is handled with a proper septic setup
• Off-grid ready: power by solar, wind, or generator, water by well, hauling, or holding tank, sewage by septic
• An unnamed road runs through the property, so you have a way in
• Very low annual property taxes, with no unpaid back taxes on record
• About 30 minutes to Van Horn and roughly an hour and 20 minutes to El Paso (drive times are estimates)
• Nearest big-box stores, like Walmart, are in El Paso, about 90 minutes out