Horsey Hooves

King Ranch: Location, Size, Worth, Owners, History & More

By: Author Anna Stanek

Posted on Last updated: 03/11/2023

King Ranch: Location, Size, Worth, Owners, History & More

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America is known for having some of the most incredible ranches in the world. Perhaps the most notable of all those ranches is the historic King Ranch.

Located in Texas, King Ranch is the largest ranch in America , spanning over 800,000 acres. Known as “The Birthplace of American Ranching” King Ranch has a rich legacy spanning over 160 years. In 1961, the ranch was dedicated as a National Historic Landmark.

In addition to ranching, the sprawling operation also includes horse breeding, farming, hunting, hardware, a nursery and a saddle shop.

The ranch is also committed to environmental stewardship and wildlife research.

Where is King Ranch Located?

King Ranch consists of four tracts of land in southeastern Texas. These four divisions span six counties in Texas: Brooks, Jim Wells, Kenedy, Kleberg, Nueces and Willacy.

The four divisions of King Ranch are Santa Gertrudis, Laureles, Norias and Encino. In addition to the four divisions of land in Texas, the ranch also owns and maintains farming land in Florida.

The headquarters for King Ranch is located in Houston, Texas.

King Ranch Map Boundaries

The Santa Gertrudis and Laureles divisions are the only two to share a border. The four Texas divisions span land from Corpus Christi to Brownsville. King Ranch’s Saddle Shop, museum and visitors center are all located in Kingsville, Texas.

Below are maps of King Ranch’s land in Texas and Florida:

Map of King Ranch in Texas

Facilities and Employees of King Ranch

King Ranch employs approximately 776 people. The sprawling facilities include pastures, barns, crop fields, plant nurseries, feed mills, a museum, a hardware store, a luxury leather goods store and much more.

Who Owns King Ranch?

Today, King Ranch is privately owned by 60 people who are descendants of Richard King. For over six generations, the ranch has remained in the family. The descendants come through King’s daughter Alice and her husband Robert Kleberg, Sr.

Today, Richard King and his wife Henrietta King are the only King descendants that live full-time at King Ranch.

How Big is King Ranch?

King Ranch consists of 825,000 acres of land, making it larger than the state of Rhode Island. The ranch covers nearly 1,300 square miles.

King Ranch History

The history of King Ranch goes back to 1852 when Richard King and Gideon K. Lewis started a cattle camp on Santa Gertrudis Creek in South Texas. Then, in 1853, King and Lewis purchased Rincón de Santa Gertrudis, a Spanish land grant consisting of 15,500 acres on Santa Gertrudis Creek in Nueces County.

King Ranch in Texas logo

Shortly after, King and Lewis went on to purchase the Mexican land grant, Santa Gertrudis de la Garza grant, consisting of 53,000 acres. In the mid-1850s they continued to purchase more land in the area, expanding their vast cattle operation.

Upon Lewis’ death in 1855, King acquired Lewis’s half interest in the Rincón grant. Then, on December 5, 1860, Mifflin Kenedy, bought an interest in the ranch. King and Kenedy had been associated in a steam boating business together prior to the ranch.

During this time, the titles were put under the business name R. King and Company. Eventually, in 1868, King and Kenedy dissolved their partnership, with King retaining Santa Gertrudis.

Throughout the rest of his life, King would go on to purchase sixty additional pieces of land, amassing ample land holdings throughout South Texas.

In the beginning, King Ranch primarily existed of cattle, sheep, horses and goats. King was dedicated to improving the quality of his horse and cattle stock.

King Ranch led some of the first cattle drives and became known for their breeding of iconic longhorn cattle.

Upon King’s death on April 14, 1885, his wife, Henrietta, retained Robert Justus Kleberg, Sr., the ranch’s legal adviser, as manager. The next year, Kleberg went on to marry the King’s youngest daughter, Alice.

In 1918, Robert Justus Kleberg, Jr. became the ranch manager due to his father’s declining health. The Ranch was incorporated with the Kleberg descendants as its stockholders due to the terms of Henrietta King’s will.

How Much is King Ranch Worth?

King Ranch is worth an estimated $1.1 billion. Since its inception, it has remained in the King family for generations.

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What is King Ranch Known For?

King ranch is known for the development of the Santa Gertrudis and Santa Cruz breeds of cattle. In addition, King Ranch is famous for breeding some of the world’s finest Quarter Horses and producing champion Thoroughbreds.

Today, King Ranch is a major agribusiness with operations in cattle ranching, farming, luxury retail goods and recreational hunting. The ranching aspect includes cattle and Quarter horses. The farming operation includes citrus, cotton, grain, sugar cane and turfgrass.

Also read: Four Sixes Ranch History, Owner, Size & More

What is the Brand of King Ranch?

The original King Ranch brand appeared in 1859 as ‘HK.’ However, in the 1860s, the famous ‘Running W’ brand was introduced and became the official King Ranch brand in 1869.

Brand of King Ranch

Some say that the brand represents diamondback rattlesnakes, which are found throughout the ranch. Others say that it represents Santa Gertrudis Creek. Some believe that it signifies the sweeping horns of a Texas Longhorn bull.

In addition, the Running W could also be interpreted to signify uniting of the past with the present and promoting continuity into the future. The iconic Running W brand appears on both cattle and King Ranch’s quality leather goods.

The Horses of King Ranch

King Ranch is famous for producing quality Quarter horses and Thoroughbreds. While today the ranch focuses on breeding Quarter horses, they served as home for some of the finest Thoroughbreds in racing.

Every horse on King Ranch is a descendant of Old Sorrel. Old Sorrel is the foundation sire of King Ranch and is also one of the foundation sires of the American Quarter horse breed. In addition, every horse on the ranch today also has Peppy San Badger or Mr. San Peppy on either the top or bottom side of their pedigrees. Today, King Ranch is home to over 200 Quarter horses.

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King Ranch got its start with Thoroughbreds in 1936 when the ranch purchased the Thoroughbred stallion Chicaro. Chicaro was used to improve the Quarter horse stock on the ranch. He was also crossed with Thoroughbred mares to study the of crossing American and European bloodlines.

In 1939, King Ranch added the 1936 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Bold Venture to their breeding stock. Bold Venture went on to sire Assualt, who won the 1946 Triple Crown. Bold Venture also sired Middleground, who won the 1950 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes.

Also read: See Inside Kevin Costner’s Incredible Colorado Ranch

How Many Cattle Does King Ranch Have?

King Ranch is home to 35,000 cattle. The cattle on the ranch consist of over 1,500 seed stock cows, over 20,000 commercial cows, stocker cattle operations and a 16,000-head feed yard.

Can You Visit King Ranch?

King Ranch offers tours to the public, allowing people to get a glimpse of the incredible operation. The ranch offers daily ranch tours, special interest tours, nature tours and motor bus tours.

The daily tours operate from Tuesday-Saturday 11 am and 1 pm and run for 1.5 hours. During the tour, guests get the opportunity to see King Ranch Quarter Horses, Santa Gertrudis cattle, Longhorn cattle and wildlife.

Man standing beside a King Ranch visitor center sign

Special interest tours last for four hours, catering to special interests including cattle/horse operations, farming or feedlot/feed mill operations. Nature tours offer an in-depth look at some of the wildlife that call the ranch home including quail, turkeys, deer, bobcats, alligators and more. Motorcoach tours are available for groups of 25 or more.

In addition to tours, King Ranch also has a visitors center, saddle shop and museum guests can check out. Special events also happen at the ranch throughout the year.

Also read: 8 Biggest Ranches in the World

King Ranch

Today, King Ranch sprawls across 825,000 acres of South Texas land, an area larger than the state of Rhode Island.

As the home of 35,000 cattle and over 200 Quarter Horses, King Ranch is one of the largest ranches in the world today. In addition to the properties in South Texas, King Ranch also owns and maintains farmland in Florida.

kr_map_sm

View a larger King Ranch Texas map

Visit King Ranch

2205 W Texas Highway 141, Kingsville, TX 78363

The Kingsville Area

King ranch visitor center hwy 141 west hours: 9-4 mon.-sat. & 12-5 sun. guided historical & nature tours group discounts and package tours of king ranch and the museum are available call for schedules: 361-592-8055 p.o. box 1090 kingsville, tx 78364-1090, king ranch museum 405 n. 6th st. hours: 10-4 mon.-sat. 361-595-1881, king ranch saddle shop 201 e. kleberg ave. hours: 10-6 mon.-sat. 800-282-king www.krsaddleshop.com.

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King Ranch 2205 West Hwy 141 Kingsville, Texas 78364

Visit the 825,000-acre King Ranch and explore one of America’s longest-running ranches – an example of the cattle empires that were built in the mid-to-late 19th century. Daily guided bus tours of the ranch begin at Santa Gertrudis Creek, where riverboat captain Richard King first camped in 1852. Other offerings onsite include nature and birding tours and visits to the feedlot – which houses 60,000 head of cattle.

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HistoryNet

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King Ranch: A Texas Dynasty

Riverboat captain Richard King got hold of some south Texas wilderness and with his equally determined wife built a ranch beyond their wildest dreams.

The name fits the state of Texas like a crown— King Ranch. Over the course of its 150-plus years this fabled giant of a ranch has been a symbol of pride, power, wealth and larger- than-life romance in the Lone Star State and beyond. Its 825,000 acres rank it larger than Rhode Island. While it will always be associated with cattle and the first cattle drives in the Wild West, the ranch has since diversified into a major agribusiness with farming, feedlot operations, pecan processing, commodity marketing and recreational hunting all part of its operations. The roots of this immense kingdom have nothing to do with royalty but rather with a riverboat captain named Richard King, who was an opportunist of humble origins, and a Presbyterian minister’s daughter, Henrietta, who consented to marry him in 1854 and became “La Patrona” of their domain.

Richard was born in New York City on July 10, 1824, to immigrant Irish parents so poor that they signed him out at age 9 as an apprentice to a Manhattan jeweler. Young Richard had room and board and was learning a trade, but he found life too sedentary. At age 11 he left New York on the steamer Desdemona , first as a stowaway and later as a cabin boy. The ship sailed to Mobile, Ala., and instead of returning to New York on the ship, King crewed steamboats on the Alabama rivers. Captain Joe Holland, one of the men schooling King in the art of navigation, sent young Richard to Connecticut for formal schooling, but he apparently didn’t take to the classroom. Eight months later he was back on the rivers.

By age 16 Richard was an experienced riverboat pilot. In 1842 he was serving on a steamer in Florida during the Second Seminole War when he met Mifflin Kenedy, master of the steamboat Champion . Although Kenedy was six years older and not the typical rough-and-ready boatman (having been raised a Quaker with an education), the pair hit it off and became friends. In 1847 King joined Kenedy on the Rio Grande to serve the United States during the war with Mexico. As commander of the ship Colonel Cross , King transported troops and supplies. At war’s end the friends became partners in M. Kenedy and Co., a Rio Grande steamship company they formed in 1850. It came to dominate trade along the river.

In 1852 King bought land on Padre Island that turned out to be a bogus claim, but he was more careful about his land deals after that, usually relying on capable lawyers in the transactions. He became captivated by a region in south Texas known as the Wild Horse Desert, especially the area along Santa Gertrudis Creek. Wildlife thrived there, and he figured stock would do the same. In 1853 he and partner Gideon “Legs” Lewis bought a 15,500-acre Mexican land grant then known as the Rincón de Santa Gertrudis. They paid less than 2 cents an acre. The next year they bought the 53,000-acre Santa Gertrudis de la Garza grant. These two tracts of wilderness became the nucleus around which the future King Ranch developed and grew. Richard was so enamored of his purchases that he developed a simple motto: “Buy land and never sell.”

Legs Lewis dropped out of the picture in April 1855, killed in a jealous rage. It seems a Corpus Christi doctor discovered love letters between his wife and Lewis and promptly blasted Legs with a double-barreled shotgun. Lewis’ half-interest in the ranch went up for public auction, and King, through friend Major William Warren Chapman, bought Lewis’ share. The Army soon transferred Chapman out of Texas, and he never made it back, dying in Virginia in 1859. (In 1879 Chapman’s widow, Helen, sued for a piece of the ranch, and a court seemingly settled the case four years later, but all was not legally resolved until the 21st century—in favor of King Ranch).

By late 1860 King and Kenedy had formed a ranching partnership, which would last eight years. After that King continued to expand his holdings, buying mostly former Spanish and Mexican land grants. His ranch—called Rancho de Santa Gertrudis until after his death—quickly became the most famous in the state of Texas. When he died in 1885, Richard had about 614,000 acres and 300 employees. He also left some $500,000 in debt.

Back when King was piloting boats anywhere “a dry creek flows” and speculating in south Texas land, he found his lifelong mate in Missouri-born Henrietta Chamberlain. After moving to Texas in 1849, she taught at the Rio Grande Female Institute and was living in Brownsville with her father, Hiram, who founded the  area’s first Presbyterian church the following year, around the time Henrietta and Richard met. The courtship lasted four years until Henrietta finally gave in and said yes. The Rev. Chamberlain officiated at his daughter’s marriage to Richard on December 10, 1854. Born in Boonville, Mo., on July 21, 1832, Henrietta must have been, like her husband, a person who loved a challenge. After their marriage the newlyweds first lived in a lean-to built against the ranch commissary before replacing it with a house near Santa Gertrudis Creek, 45 miles southwest of Corpus Christi and 125 miles north of Brownsville, on the Rio Grande. Henrietta shared her husband’s vision of building a profitable ranch, even though he had little experience with cattle or ranching. As an intelligent man of action, however, Richard knew he needed help and went out to get it. In 1859 the ranch registered both the HK brand, for Henrietta King, and the LK brand, for Lewis and King.

As the area was suffering from a drought, King had no trouble buying thirsty cattle owned by the citizens of Cruillas and other small villages in northern Mexico. He then offered to hire the Mexicans themselves, since they knew how to work cattle. In need of work, most agreed to move north. These grateful new employees came to call themselves Kineños (“King’s people”) and remained loyal to the family and their ranch for generations. They taught King the cattle trade and how to train horses. The grateful rancher was in turn loyal to them and worked beside them. The Kineños were not the same as the era’s cowboys—transient horsemen usually hired on a seasonal basis who were most valuable on the long cattle drives north after the Civil War. The Kineños had year-round jobs on King Ranch with security and the opportunity to advance. They could marry and raise their families on the ranch. Henrietta showed her leadership abilities early on by supervising housing and schooling for the Mexican-American families.

Henrietta weathered a number of desperate situations during these early years. In one incident she was baking bread while one of her babies slept in the kitchen. An Indian burst through the door and began waving his club over the infant. Henrietta knew if she didn’t feed the man, he would kill the baby. Without hesitation she gave him all her bread, and he left. Another time she was camped along a wilderness trail with Richard and one of the babies. As she tended the child, she noticed a knife-wielding bandit approaching her husband. “Behind you!” she shouted. Richard whipped around, threw the man to the ground, disarmed him and sent him packing.

In November 1863 Federal forces captured Brownsville, and Richard King, a Confederate sympathizer, correctly assumed the Yankees would soon march north to raid the ranch. In Mexico at the time, searching for stolen cattle, he was concerned about Henrietta and their children and hoped the enemy would be honorable enough not to harm his family or the property. He was partly right. When the bluecoats arrived in the yard, a loyal ranch hand named Francisco Alvarado opened the front door and stepped outside. He intended to tell them Richard was gone and hope they would believe him or else search the grounds and then leave. Before he could say a word, though, the Yankees shot him dead at the door—a case of mistaken identity. The soldiers thought they had killed Captain King, but when they carried the body into the parlor and saw otherwise, they were furious. They ransacked the house, smashing and looting as they went, vandalizing out of revenge or perhaps just for the thrill of it. Henrietta could only stand by and watch, her children holding onto her skirts. Two months later she gave birth to a boy, whom she named Robert E. Lee King. Soon after she took her five children to San Antonio until it was safe to return home. Richard King himself tempted fate in Texas during the Civil War. He and his partners had entered into contracts with the Confederate government to supply European buyers with cotton. In return the South received beef, clothing and munitions, among other things, and King and company made considerable fortunes. Their steamships had been skirting the Union blockade under the Mexican flag, shipping cotton from the South to Europe through Mexico. While the Confederates did reclaim south Texas in 1864, putting King back in business, he fled to Mexico when the South surrendered and did not return to his ranch until late 1865 when President Andrew Johnson pardoned him for aiding the Confederacy.

After the war, as before, the ranch’s biggest problem was cattle rustling. It was easy for Mexican thieves to ride into south Texas, cut out a few head and race back across the border. As a deterrent King built more fences and beefed up his patrols with guards, especially along the southern border of his land. On a bigger scale he eventually helped form the Stock Raisers’ Association of Western Texas to combat rustling. Whether they rustled or not, squatters also bothered King, and he saw to it they were removed. Armed bandits were another concern. When he traveled in a coach to do his banking in Brownsville, he brought along an armed driver and four to five armed vaqueros. He kept his cash (sometimes as much as $50,000 at a time) in a secret safe built into the coach. He eventually set up relay stations 20 miles apart to ensure fresh teams for his carriages and fresh remounts for his guards during the 125-mile-plus trip to Brownsville. This way he would not have to stop long anywhere along the way.

In 1868 King and Kenedy decided to amicably dissolve their partnership, with King ranching at Santa Gertrudis and Kenedy at Los Laureles. In 1869 King registered the Running W brand (which remains King Ranch’s official brand; see sidebar, P. 59). By that year King was sending many of his Longhorns north to the Kansas railheads. He called the drovers his “Kansas men.” Usually he traveled ahead of them to negotiate the cattle sales in the various northern cow towns. Between 1869 and 1884 more than 100,000 head of King cattle made the long trek north. He also sold horses and mules and wool from his sheep. He financed a hide and tallow enterprise, enabling him to cull out the weaker cattle and upgrade his herds. He was making loads of money—spending it, too. His expansion in land and livestock seemed limitless.

The area had long operated on a hacienda system rooted in its Spanish and Mexican traditions. The owner of a land grant governing a hacienda was expected to care for his workers. Indeed, at his ranch King provided food, shelter and medical care while the Kineño families provided reliable and loyal labor. Some of the early Kineños became caporals (foremen), mayordomos (bosses of “foot sections,” tasked with jobs other than cattle work) and remuderos (overseers of the horses), terms still in use today. Sons of vaqueros often became vaqueros like their fathers, while the girls became homemakers like their mothers. If they branched out to become butlers or maids, to work at the dairy and so forth, their chief duty was to support the men. When a couple married, they sometimes received a cow as a wedding gift. These cows were often then butchered for the wedding feasts. The families usually seemed happy with the arrangement. Richard King adopted such practices on his ranch, and the system worked and remained in place for years.

The ranch itself was not one vast expanse of contiguous land. Eventually it comprised four separate properties, or divisions, in six counties (Jim Wells, Nueces, Kleberg, Brooks, Kenedy and Willacy). The four division headquarters—the original Santa Gertrudis, the Laureles, the Encino and the Norias— would each fall under a separate foreman. During the 1870s and early 1880s the Running W was as well known as any brand from the Gulf of Mexico to Kansas. Despite his success, however, by 1883 Richard King was in poor health and worried. His 19-year-old son and potential successor, Robert E. Lee King, had died of pneumonia.

According to some accounts Richard began drinking heavily and was so distraught that he listed the Santa Gertrudis Ranch for sale. A British syndicate showed interest in buying the property but couldn’t—or wouldn’t—meet King’s asking price of $6.5 million. That was the last time the ranch was put up for sale. In fact, when the 60-year-old former riverboat captain turned pioneer rancher died of stomach cancer at San Antonio’s Menger Hotel on April 14, 1885, he left instructions with a lawyer “not to let a foot of dear old Santa Gertrudis get away.”

Henrietta certainly didn’t let King Ranch get away. The widow showed her strength and resourcefulness by skillfully supervising the ranch the way her late husband had. More frugal than Richard, Henrietta soon freed the ranch of debt. She did not go it alone, however. Robert Justus Kleberg, the ranch lawyer and her son-in-law, helped her manage the holdings. It was Richard King who had hired Kleberg to do most of the ranch’s legal work. This young lawyer with the opposing counsel impressed Richard during a lawsuit in Corpus Christi in 1881. Kleberg also became drawn to Richard and attracted to Henrietta’s youngest daughter, Alice Gertrudis King, and the couple married in 1886, a year after Richard’s death. The ranch grew from the 146,000 acres they had after the war to 650,000 acres by 1895, and that year Henrietta gave Kleberg her power of attorney and more responsibilities on the ranch.

Kleberg took a strong interest in cattle and horse breeding, improving range grasses and irrigated farming. In 1899 he drilled several artesian wells and discovered a river of water running beneath the property. His revelation brought an end to a decade of harsh conditions that had begun with a severe drought known as “the great die-up.” Another of Kleberg’s successes was to design the first cattle-dipping vats to fight the dreaded Texas fever tick that had long plagued area cattle. For two years (1899–1901) he served as president of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association. Henrietta and her son-in-law were instrumental in getting the St. Louis, Brownsville & Mexico Railway to come their way, and she provided land along the track for several towns, including Kingsville. She also paid for a public school, donated land for the Texas-Mexican Industrial Institute and the Spohn Sanitarium and helped establish South Texas Normal School (now Texas A&M University–Kingsville).

By the time Henrietta died in 1925 at age 92, she had seen the ranch increase to more than a million acres. Families came from everywhere to camp on the grass near the house as they waited for the funeral. Kineños past and present arrived, some riding horses for days to arrive in time. They immediately went to her daughter, Alice Kleberg, to express their sadness and extend their fealty to her family. At the funeral in Kingsville a guard of nearly 200 vaqueros on Running W horses flanked the hearse to the cemetery. The Rev. S.E. Chandler gave the service, and as her coffin was lowered into the grave, each vaquero cantered his horse around the opening, holding his hat at his side in salute. La Patrona left behind a legacy of philanthropy and devotion. As for the late Patrón, his remains were interred from San Antonio and reburied next to his beloved wife in the Kingsville cemetery, as were two (son Lee and daughter Ella) of their five children.

After Henrietta’s death King Ranch struggled to market beef during the Great Depression. Recognizing the need to diversify, the family negotiated a few long-term oil and gas leases with Humble Oil & Refining Co. (a precursor of ExxonMobil), which helped fund the ranch through the 1930s. Robert Kleberg died in 1932, passing the torch to son Robert Justus Kleberg Jr., who became manager of the ranch. Another son, Richard Mifflin Kleberg, was also instrumental in running the ranch and became a U.S. congressman from south Texas.

The Kleberg brothers worked together to breed Santa Gertrudis cattle, a combination of Brahman and Shorthorn recognized as a distinct breed in 1940. King Ranch began breeding quarter horses in 1916 and thoroughbreds in 1934. In 1946 its prize 3-year-old colt Assault won the Triple Crown. In the 1950s King Ranch bought ranches abroad, in Cuba, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Spain and Morocco. Meanwhile, Stateside expansion included operations in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Florida and Mississippi. These properties greatly expanded the ranges of Santa Gertrudis cattle.

By the late 20th century King Ranch had sold many of its foreign properties to concentrate on domestic operations. The ranch has since bolstered its agricultural (man cannot live on beef alone) and energy operations and become more involved in tourism. Many descendants of Richard and Henrietta King have continued to work the ranch. The patrón system has not totally disappeared from the ranch, although more contemporary management practices are in use, and some Kineños have risen to management positions. Progress happens, good and bad—it’s necessary for survival. Today you can visit the still-working King Ranch and King Ranch Museum in Kingsville to relive the legacy of Richard and Henrietta. Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961, the ranch remains one of the largest in the world, home to its thriving San Gertrudis cattle and many other successful ventures.

Pat Decker Nipper of San Jose, Calif., thanks King Ranch archivist Lisa Neely for her help. For further reading: The King Ranch (two volumes), by Tom Lea; Bob Kleberg and the King Ranch: A Worldwide Sea of Grass , by John Cypher; and Voices From the Wild Horse Desert: The Vaquero Families of the King and Kenedy Ranches , by Jane Clements Monday and Betty Bailey Colley.

Originally published in the October 2014 issue of Wild West . To subscribe, click here .

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King Ranch Hunting Excursions Guide

Founded in 1853 in Kingsville, Texas, King Ranch has become a leader in ranching and wildlife in South Texas and across the globe. With property larger than the state of Rhode Island and industry-leading preservation initiatives, the Ranch continues to be a coveted hunting destination. King Ranch provides a low fence, fair chase environment allowing an opportunity for both experienced and novice hunters. We spoke to Weston Koehler, Assistant Area Manager of Wildlife Operations, to learn the essentials before booking a hunt.

What type s of hunts are offered at King Ranch?

King Ranch offers a variety of hunts and packages guests can select. You can hunt for nilgai antelope, White-tailed deer, Rio Grande Turkey, Dove, Javelina, Hog, and Archery Hunts. King Ranch offers hunts for nilgai antelope year around. You can also add guided saltwater bay fishing to your nilgai hunting packages.

How skilled does one have to be to book a hunt with King Ranch?

Our hunting excursions are accessible to anyone interested! We want to provide an experience for any skill level. So, everyone from novice hunters to very experienced hunters are welcome. Before coming, everyone must have a valid Texas hunting license along with their own rifle or bow.

How much are the packages?

Each hunt is different while Day Hunts and Package hunts offer various pricing . During Day Hunts, one can choose from Javelina-Hog, Nilgai, Buck, and Predator Hunts. Package Hunts can include Nilgai Bulls, Turkeys, Doves, Saltwater Bay Fishing, and Archery Nilgai Hunts. Get an in-depth look at pricing and available hunts on King Ranch’s website.

How many people can reserve a hunt per group?

We provide flexibility to the number of people per group. Hunts can accommodate from 2-8 guests. These can depend on the hunt that is booked, so more information can be found under the packages we provide.

What can be expected when people book a hunt with King Ranch?

King Ranch has full-time hunting guides dedicated to providing customers with the experience of a lifetime during their hunt. We guarantee a fair shot opportunity on our hunts and will do our best to give you a great experience. You can expect to see abundant wildlife, learn about our wildlife and habitat management program, and learn about the ranch’s history from our guides. The hunts tend to last 1 – 3 days, depending on the hunt reserved. The itinerary varies depending on the type of hunt. Generally, there is a morning and an evening hunt each day.

What is provided by King Ranch when a hunt is booked? Are accommodations provided?

King Ranch offers “day hunts” without lodging and “package hunts” that include lodging. Day hunts include the following - a King Ranch guide, field dressing, lunch, bottled water, and transportation while on the ranch. Package hunts include- Lodging, bottled water, King Ranch guide, field dressing, transportation while on the ranch, bedding and towels, and full kitchen facilities. A chef and meals can be added on for an additional fee.

The hunt of a lifetime awaits! Book your trip to one of the world’s largest ranches today. And if hunting is not your hobby, King Ranch also has a variety of nature tours, special interest tours, a museum, and visitor center.

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About The Author

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  1. The King Ranch Legacy

    visit the king ranch

  2. A Visit to the King Ranch

    visit the king ranch

  3. Tour the King Ranch

    visit the king ranch

  4. The King Ranch

    visit the king ranch

  5. La visita al famoso King Ranch nos transporta al mundo de los cowboys

    visit the king ranch

  6. King Ranch

    visit the king ranch

COMMENTS

  1. Visit Us

    King Ranch Corporate Offices Three Riverway, Suite 1600 Houston, TX 77056 (832) 681-5700

  2. Daily Ranch Tours

    Book your tour online at the button below. You can also email [email protected] to learn more about King Ranch's tours. Length of Tours: 1.5 hours. Daily Tour Schedule: Tuesday - Saturday: 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Closed: Easter Sunday, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. King Ranch Visitor Center Hours: Tuesday - Saturday ...

  3. Our Tours

    2205 Highway 141 West PO Box 1090 Kingsville, Texas 78364-1090 (361) 592-8055 Fax (361) 595-1344 [email protected]

  4. King Ranch Visitor Center

    King Ranch Visit. Nov 2020. King Ranch is a very large and historic place. The 1 1/2 hour tour shows you the cattle, horses and wildlife on the ranch. It gives you the history of breeds developed on the ranch and the history of Captain King and his family. The King home is also on the tour. We had a great tour guide.

  5. Nature Tours

    Whether you're interested in beautiful or unusual birds, big deer, or the wonders of nature, King Ranch is the place to visit. Book your tour online at the button below. You can also speak with a King Ranch Visitor Center representative to learn more by calling either (361) 592-8055 or emailing [email protected].

  6. The King Ranch Legacy

    King Ranch Corporate Offices Three Riverway, Suite 1600 Houston, TX 77056 (832) 681-5700

  7. King Ranch Museum

    Visitors can view videos about the history of King Ranch and its main residence. King Ranch Museum. 405 North 6th Street. Kingsville. Texas 78363. (361) 595-1881. [email protected]. Hours of Operation: Tuesday - Saturday: Open 10 a.m., Close 4 p.m.

  8. King Ranch

    The King Ranch Tour is quite informative and worth your time to see. Plan for about a one and a half hour excursion. The tour is conducted via a bus that accommodates approximately 25 visitors. Our guide shared many details about the history, the founders, the operations and today's status. The scenery included numerous buildings, the King home ...

  9. King Ranch: Location, Size, Worth, Owners, History & More

    Can You Visit King Ranch? King Ranch offers tours to the public, allowing people to get a glimpse of the incredible operation. The ranch offers daily ranch tours, special interest tours, nature tours and motor bus tours. The daily tours operate from Tuesday-Saturday 11 am and 1 pm and run for 1.5 hours.

  10. Maps

    Visit King Ranch. 2205 W Texas Highway 141, Kingsville, TX 78363. The Kingsville Area. King Ranch Visitor Center Hwy 141 West Hours: 9-4 Mon.-Sat. & 12-5 Sun. Guided Historical & Nature Tours Group discounts and package tours of King Ranch and the Museum are available Call for schedules: 361-592-8055 P.O. Box 1090 Kingsville, TX 78364-1090 King ...

  11. King Ranch Visitor Center

    King Ranch Visitor Center. A short-day trip from Corpus Christi, the Rio Grande Valley or San Antonio, this 825,000-acre ranch is a privately owned National Historic Landmark and offers daily tours on its Santa Gertrudis division. The King Ranch Museum and Saddle Shop are separate locations in downtown Kingsville.

  12. King Ranch

    Visit the 825,000-acre King Ranch and explore one of America's longest-running ranches - an example of the cattle empires that were built in the mid-to-late 19th century. Daily guided bus tours of the ranch begin at Santa Gertrudis Creek, where riverboat captain Richard King first camped in 1852. Other offerings onsite include nature and ...

  13. King Ranch: How to Spend A Day

    Tours run at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. on Sundays. Nature Tours. Nature tours at the King Ranch are perfect for people who enjoy wildlife and bird-watching. You can see over 363 different kinds of birds, along with deer, mammals and reptiles in their natural habitats.

  14. King Ranch

    King Ranch is the largest ranch in the United States. At some 825,000 acres (3,340 km 2; 1,289 sq mi) it is larger than both the land area of Rhode Island and the area of the European country Luxembourg. It is mainly a cattle ranch, but also produced the racehorse Assault, who won the Triple Crown in 1946.. The headquarters of the King Ranch are in an office building in Houston, Texas.

  15. A Day at King Ranch: Fit For A King

    Daily Tour Schedule: Wednesday - Saturday: 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Museum. No King Ranch trip is complete without a visit to the King Ranch Museum. Located almost right in the middle of Kingsville, Texas, this museum has larger than most exhibits, iconic photos, saddles, rifles, guns and everything else that is required for life on the ranch.

  16. King Ranch: A Texas Dynasty

    Today you can visit the still-working King Ranch and King Ranch Museum in Kingsville to relive the legacy of Richard and Henrietta. Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961, the ranch remains one of the largest in the world, home to its thriving San Gertrudis cattle and many other successful ventures.

  17. King Ranch Visitor Center

    King Ranch Visitor Center, Kingsville, Texas. 8,500 likes · 66 talking about this · 1,275 were here. Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966, the King Ranch has a Visitor Center set up to...

  18. Definitely take the special interest tour

    Spring is an especially good time to visit the King Ranch because there are so many new born animals. Date of experience: March 2023. Ask jscottjoplin about King Ranch. 1 Thank jscottjoplin . This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry ...

  19. A Visit to the King Ranch

    Dining: No food service is offered at the ranch. A small picnic area is near the ranch visitor center. Cost: Ranch tours: adults $20, seniors & students $15. Museum: adults $10, seniors and ...

  20. When in Texas: Places to Visit for that Authentic Cowboy Experience

    The King Ranch. For a deep dive into Texas ranching history, visit the King Ranch in Kingsville. This sprawling cattle ranch is one of the largest in the world, covering over 825,000 acres. Take a guided tour to learn about the ranch's history, conservation efforts, and the iconic Santa Gertrudis cattle breed.

  21. King Ranch Hunting Excursions Guide

    By Luis Arjona on Oct. 05, 2022. Founded in 1853 in Kingsville, Texas, King Ranch has become a leader in ranching and wildlife in South Texas and across the globe. With property larger than the state of Rhode Island and industry-leading preservation initiatives, the Ranch continues to be a coveted hunting destination.

  22. Tour the Historic, Iconic, Legendary King Ranch

    Just up the road in Kingsville, Texas, sits the vast King Ranch, notorious not only for its size-currently over 800,000 acres-but also for its incredible impact on ranching in Texas. Tours & Travel by Welcome Home offers a day-trip tour via motorcoach, with two Valley pick-up points. The ride is about one and a half hours from the RGV.

  23. King Soopers Red Cedar Drive Grocery Pickup Highlands Ranch, CO

    Order now for grocery pickup in Highlands Ranch, CO at King Soopers. Online grocery pickup lets you order groceries online and pick them up at your nearest store. Find a grocery store near you. Skip to content ... 4000 Red Cedar Dr Highlands Ranch, CO 80126. Get Directions Hours & Contact. Store Info 303-683-7383. Closed until 6 AM. Sun ...

  24. 2024 F150 King Rach Antimatter Blue

    2024 F150 King Rach Antimatter Blue Visit gjovik ford in plano #il serving sandwich, yorkville and oswego. I'd imagine most king ranch trucks out on the road do not perform much ranching type activities. Carbonized gray, space white, guard, kodiak brown, code orange, smoked quartz tinted clearcoat, and. See owner's manual for information on use.

  25. 10 BEST Places to Visit in Elektrostal

    Hotels near Electrostal History and Art Museum Hotels near Park of Culture and Leisure Hotels near Statue of Lenin Hotels near Museum and Exhibition Center Hotels ...