• The Caribou Ranch in Colorado – which is associated with the Walton family – has been put up for sale for $48.5 million.
• The 1,700-acre ranch has a rich history, including connections to music greats and the gold rush.

A sprawling ranch along Colorado’s Front Range just hit the market for $48.5 million – and features a unique and varied history revolving around Elton John, the Gold Rush and Arabian horses.

There is also a connection to the Walton family, the billionaire heirs of Walmart.

Located in Nederland, Colorado, just west of Boulder and about an hour from Denver, Caribou Ranch spans 1,700 acres, according to the Hall and Hall listing.

The ranch is located in an alpine valley with stunning mountain views and borders public land. Wildlife such as elk, deer, fox and coyote are common in the property’s grassy fields and meadows, and there are streams available for fly fishing.

Boulder County land records show that the ranch was owned by a Colorado-based company previously associated with the Walton family’s business.

Sources had previously told the Denver Post that the company that bought the ranch was owned by the Waltons. The newspaper also reported that the primary address listed for the company was the same Arkansas address as that of Walton Enterprises and other companies affiliated with the Waltons, although it was later changed. The Wall Street Journal reported that “the seller, according to property records, is a Colorado-based limited liability company affiliated with Walton Enterprises, a Walton family office.”

The Waltons did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent through their charitable foundation.

The Walton family includes the descendants of Sam Walton, the late founder of Walmart, including his children Rob, Jim and Alice, and his grandson Lukas. Together, the four have a net worth of more than $290 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

In addition to the connections to the famous billionaire family, several music legends are also rooted in the history of the Caribou Ranch.

The ranch is home to a 1970s recording studio that has hosted Elton John, the Beach Boys, Billy Joel, Stevie Nicks, Rod Stewart and many other music industry greats. The Caribou Ranch Recording Studio was even inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame in 2017.

“Hidden in a converted barn just outside the ghost town of Caribou, Colorado, Caribou Ranch was a one-of-a-kind recording studio that captured the distinctive spirit of the American West,” the Hall of Fame’s description of the studio states.

There are several other buildings on the ranch property, including a main residence and five guest cabins, the oldest of which dates back to 1910.

The primary residence is currently uninhabitable and would need to be remodeled, according to the bidding. It was built in the 1980s using materials from a cabin built in the 1860s when the first settlers came to the area during the Pike’s Peak Gold Rush, also known as the Colorado Gold Rush.

According to Hall and Hall, the ranch served as a base camp for miners at the time.

The ranch once also had an Arabian horse breeding facility.

Other buildings on the Caribou Ranch include a tool shed and workshop, an office, a guest house, a horse and hay barn, and a blacksmith shop.