There's a twinkle in the eyes of Laurie Mitchell as she talks about Sage View Ranch.
"There's a lot of things that make it kind of unique, but I think because we have it's an agritourism location, we do unique stays on the property. We also have music events on the property. We offer weddings. We have our goat girls and our chickens," said Mitchell looking across the room at her husband Scott who also co-owns the ranch.
"People get to go on what they call "the goat parade" and walk around with our goats. We do that every day. We take them out and people can feed them. People can get fresh eggs. We teach them about raw milk and the milking association and things like that," Mitchell continued.
The small but mighty ranch is located just off Highway 133 near Paonia, Colorado.
Unlike most agritourism businesses in the North Fork Valley, Sage View Ranch is open year round.
"Well, we're year round because our goat girls need to be taken care of all year round as well as the chickens. So we stay open all year. Which is nice because some people do close down. And so we still have places for people to stay when they're coming and wanting to visit and do some of the tours that are around town. "
Just like Zenzen Gardens and Fort Austin, Sage View Ranch depends on agritourism to pay for the land and keep the goats afloat.
" It's a way for farmers and ranchers to survive in lean times. When Delta County created their their Master Plan in 2018 (because we actually started our our short term rentals in 2018) we contacted the county to see what we needed to do. We found out about their Master Plan, and we were so excited because it literally talks about everything we have, fruit and animals and eggs and those kind of things," Mitchell said.
The Delta County Master Plan was viable way for the Mitchell's to bring people to the valley and in the process educate them on farming. She said visitors to Sage View Ranch also go to other farms and ranches in the valley.
"Agritourism helps us and we could not do it without without agritourism. It has been such a huge blessing and we were so grateful for the creation and the support of the county," said Mitchell.
Like so many farm families agritourism supports their bottom line and boosts the economies of the North Fork Valley and Delta County.
"We are a part of the Colorado Agritourism Association. We found out that there's 64 counties in Colorado and Delta County is number eight in agritourism businesses and in revenue we're actually number three, which I thought was really exciting. And I guess that's why people love to come to this, this valley."
Guests at Sage View Ranch often come to get away from city life and to experience rural community. Mitchell said visitors can feel the passion of the local businesses, whether it's agritourism or small shop in town.
"There's a passion about the people. They're up to something and they're doing what they love. And that energy transfers into everything, into everything... into the food you eat, into the animals you meet and all of that."
Mitchell noted that for every person who stays in the North Fork Valley spends on average $163.54 at local businesses, shops and venues.
"You multiply that by how many people each location or each agritourism location has. Oh my gosh, that kind of explains the revenue. We haven't really made a huge profit yet and we're hoping to someday do that as we continue to grow," Mitchell said. " It's not really even all about the money. It's really about the people that come and being able to see the smiles on people's faces and the kids that come and, you know, get to pet the goats and hang out with them. That to me feels wealthier than than money."
One word sums up Sage View Ranch "rustic."
"That's what we call ourselves, because we want to leave everything as natural as possible. Partially because our goats like to eat a lot of trees. So we want to keep things as natural as possible," Mitchell said. "People come and they say that when they come and stay on the ranch, that they actually sleep better and feel better than they have in years for some people."
The ranch is also know for its unique porta potties.
"Well, you know, we put lights and and there's a light switch in there. There's mirrors in there. There's little plants in there. There's just things to kind of fu-fu it up, I call it."
