The Story of Saddle Rock Ranches

Before Saddle Rock Ranches was platted, the land in this part of Arapahoe County was open prairie—rolling pastureland, seasonal creeks, and dryland ranching. For decades, this area sat on the edge of the Denver metro fringe: too far out for suburbs, but too close in to be wild. The land that would eventually become Saddle Rock Ranches was part of a larger privately held tract—undeveloped, mostly unbroken, and typical of eastern Colorado ranch country.

That began to change in the late 1970s, when Park No. 2 Corp filed the original Saddle Rock Ranches subdivision plat in 1979, creating large residential lots intended for custom homes, horses, and families looking for space. The developer filed a set of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs) that same year to preserve the rural integrity of the neighborhood—minimum lot sizes, architectural standards, and allowance for equestrian use.

Throughout the 1980s and into the early 1990s, Saddle Rock Ranches was built out slowly, one lot at a time. Homes were constructed by a variety of builders, and the character of the community reflected that—no tract housing, no mass production. Just unique homes on spacious lots, designed with the land in mind. The 1988 redivision plat adjusted lot boundaries as development progressed, but the overall vision remained the same.

Saddle Rock Ranches was originally envisioned as just one part of a larger multi-phase development. Our neighborhood was originally planned when Liverpool  Road was a dirt road, Arapahoe Road did not exist to the east of the Liverpool intersection, and E-470 wasn't even on the map. This original design for Saddle Rock Ranches included adjacent blocks and unplatted tracts were identified for future filings. The planned 139 lots stretched beyond the current boundary of E-470; including all of the Saddle Rock Golf Course front nine, Saddle Rock North and Saddle Rock Village Center. But by the early 1990s, Park No. 2 Corp began unwinding its holdings. Rather than completing the full Saddle Rock Ranches plan, most of the remaining land was sold to the City of Aurora and private developers, who repurposed it for more land intensive uses.

What followed was the creation of Saddle Rock Golf Course, as well as high-density subdivisions like Saddle Rock East and Saddle Rock North—typical suburban developments with much smaller lot sizes, HOA-managed front yards, and strict design uniformity. These areas share the “Saddle Rock” name, but not the identity.

Through all this, Saddle Rock Ranches remained intact. We are the only part of the original Saddle Rock Ranches vision that still exists as it was intended—large lots, equestrian trails, no sidewalks, no curb-and-gutter, and no city-mandated uniformity. We are self-governed, neighbor-managed, and proud of it.

In 2001, after full build-out and years of individual lot development, the community adopted and recorded the Second Consolidated Covenants and Restrictions, modernizing and unifying the rules to reflect a stable, owner-led neighborhood. These updated CC&Rs gave the HOA the tools to preserve what matters—architecture, land use, and rural quality of life—without overreaching.

Since then, Saddle Rock Ranches has stayed remarkably consistent. We’ve invested in our neighborhood, updating our community sports court, hosting annual events during America's greatest holidays, and welcomed many new families over the years. But the core of the neighborhood hasn't changed. While the city has grown up around us—new schools, commercial centers, and thousands of homes—Saddle Rock Ranches remains what it always was: a rural enclave in the city, and a rare holdout from the original eastern plains.