Farm facts: Skyrider Wilderness Ranch

Welcome to the Skyrider Wilderness Ranch

The Skyrider Wilderness Ranch sits at the foot of the Western Uinta Mountains, a nearly untouched jewel of the American West, filled with bison, elk, and plants native to its unique ecosystem. Come with us on a tour of the Skyrider Wilderness Ranch and learn some of our favorite fun facts about this farm.

Where is the Skyrider Wilderness Ranch located?

This ranch is just outside of Tabiona, Utah, at the foot of Tabby Mountain, and is home to stunning vistas and wildlife. In fact, this area is so important to Utah’s elk and deer populations that wildlife researchers call it “Utah’s Serengeti.” Skyrider Ranch started out as a working bison and elk ranch, which we’ve continued since purchasing the ranch in 2016.

This farm’s 17,000 acres are part of a crucial wildlife zone in Utah. To the south, the ranch is bordered by 40,000 acres of a state wildlife area called the Tabby Mountain Wildlife Area. This zone is administered by the Division of Wildlife specifically for winter-range deer and elk. On the west side is state trust land that is the summer range for wildlife species like deer, elk, mountain lions, bears, pine martens, and even wolverines. The Skyrider Ranch is the transition zone between the two seasonal zones and is a major corridor for wildlife in the Tabby Mountain area, allowing a free range of movement across the kind of untouched territory that is rapidly disappearing for wildlife in the American west.

What products come from the farm?

The Skyrider Wilderness Ranch grows Young Living’s beloved einkorn, an ancient grain from humanity’s early days of agriculture. These golden fields of ancient, unhybridized grain make for a stunning contrast against the rugged scenery of the ranch. We grind our einkorn into nutrient-dense ingredients and foods like our Einkorn Flour, Einkorn Flakes Cereal, Einkorn Granola, Einkorn Spaghetti, Einkorn Crunch, and Wagyu Beef Bites.

Einkorn is extremely versatile, and there are endless possibilities of delicious recipes you can create with it! With einkorn flour, you can make bread, pastries, and pumpkin cookies. You can find more recipes in our Baking & Cooking with Einkorn cookbook. Learn more about einkorn in this blog post.

We also raise Wagyu beef, bison, and elk on the ranch.

What other facilities are on the farm?

Prior to Young Living’s purchase of the ranch, it started out as a high-fence domestic elk hunting operation. Of the almost 17,000 acres, 4,000 are surrounded by an eight-foot-high fence for the sole purpose of raising and hunting elk. Because the fence was breaking up the migratory patterns of local wildlife species, the farm’s managers considered simply taking the fence down. However, they realized that we could use it as an opportunity to do our part to help another threatened species: bighorn sheep. Bighorn sheep have been on a precipitous decline in the west for years due to habitat loss and disease, nearly joining the endangered species list. We realized that we could use the enclosed acreage at the ranch to help protect and raise bighorn sheep, raising their numbers and helping them to recover with our support. We have now partnered with the State of Utah to raise bighorn sheep on the ranch to help repopulate decimated herds throughout the west as a way to give back to the land that gave us our start.

What can visitors see/do at the farm?

If you’ve grown up with visions of the Wild West, you need to come see it for yourself. Come experience the scenic fields of einkorn grain, the majestic Uinta peaks, and the pinyon forest that kept the ranch close to Young Living Founder D. Gary Young’s heart. As you explore the farm, there are many types of wildlife that you may encounter, including deer, wild turkeys, eagles, hawks, pine martens, ducks, foxes, rabbits, gophers, bobcats, bighorn sheep, and more. In addition to this wildlife, you will see our farm family of ranch elk, bison, and cattle, as well as our dogs, chickens, cats, and horses.

While visiting the ranch, take a moment to reflect, breathing in the fresh, crisp air as you spend time surrounded by pinyon pines, juniper bushes, jackrabbits, and other wildlife. A trip to the ranch will give you a few minutes to relax as you take a break from the noise of the city. If you want to visit in the winter, the ranch will take your breath away, both literally and figuratively. Prepare for gorgeous mountain scenery, snowy roads, and a bracing chill!

All tours can be made through this website.

Fun farm facts

• The ranch is the site of the D. Gary Young Wildlife Sanctuary, a conservation easement held by The Nature Conservancy that spans about 10,880 acres. The donation of this land was the largest in the Utah chapter’s history.
• This sanctuary is integral to the large herds of elk and deer that migrate through there. The ranch maintains sections of ground specifically to help the animals through the harsh winters.
• The ranch uses renewable wind energy to help aerate trout ponds found on the property.
• The magic of the conservation efforts to preserve and protect this farm will help it stay unchanged for years to come.

There’s so little of the west that’s left this untouched and allowed to be this wild. Come see what wild looks like at the Skyrider Wilderness Ranch.

Want to learn more about Young Living’s Farm? Learn all about our Northern Lights Farm and some of the conservation practices that happen at all our farms.

Which farm fact was your favorite?