A 200-acre Colorado estate called Tall Timber is on the market for $25 million. Access to the property near Durango requires travel by train or helicopter, as it sits within the 1.8-million-acre San Juan National Forest surrounded by protected public land with no public road access. Max Cawal is listing the property.
The centerpiece is a three-story timber lodge that Judy and Denny Beggrow built by hand in a single summer, opening as a resort in 1972. The lodge contains 21 bedrooms, 22 full bathrooms, and 10 half-baths. Cabins and staff quarters add 18 more bedrooms, 15 full baths, and two half-baths, bringing totals to 39 bedrooms, 40 full baths, and 13 half baths.
The property features a soda shop and ice cream parlor, a barbershop, a resort-style pool and hot tub, and a three-story greenhouse with 35,000 flowers. One of the longest zip-line courses in the country runs through the trees. The sale includes use of a nearby 10,000-square-foot private hangar with a one-bedroom apartment.
Judy's father, Ross McCausland, opened Ah! Wilderness Guest Ranch in 1946 as an 80-acre dude ranch. When Judy and Denny bought the current property in the late 1960s, they dug holes and set poles to bring electricity from the Tacoma hydroelectric plant and laid pipe from a mountain spring for water.
Tall Timber earned five-star and five-diamond ratings from the Mobil Travel Guide and AAA. The resort hosted up to 30 guests at a time with a peak staff of about 40. Guests included Christie Brinkley, who stayed 10 days and wrote about the visit in People magazine in April 2025. In the mid-2000s, the family added a zip line. When visitor interest shifted to the zip line, the last resort guests left in 2008. The zip line drew 60 to 80 riders a day at the height of its final season.
Judy, her son Johnroy, and his wife Dionne listed the property. Judy is preparing to move to Florida, and Johnroy and Dionne want to travel summers rather than run the business.