Chico Basin Ranch, a working cattle ranch located just Southeast of Colorado Springs, Colo., will be having their annual Ranchlands concert and camping events at the ranch starting this Friday, June 24, featuring award winning, singer-songwriter Hayes Carll. Carll, who plays an Americana, folk, country blend, has been featured on The Late Show with David Letterman, Rolling Stone, had a song featured in the movie “Country Strong,” and recently played one of America’s most popular festivals, Bonnaroo.

The concerts, held in the open prairie looking out at Pikes Peak, will feature camping, a bonfire during and after the show and jam sessions led by local musician and ranch manager Michael Moon. Food will be available for purchase all night and concertgoers are encouraged to stick around after the show to sit by the bonfire and listen to the late night jam session.

Chico’s second concert and camping event will be held Saturday, July 23, with another award winning, singer-songwriter Corb Lund. Lund will also be leading a special songwriting workshop on the ranch on the 24th, teaching the skills and techniques that have made his songs award-winning hits. Lund, already a star in Canada, has recently become more and more popular in the U.S. with his witty and heart-felt lyrics about ranching, horses, the prairie and the other nuances of lives lead working with the land. Recently signed to New West Records, Lund finds himself on the same playing field and label as Kris Kristofferson and Steve Earle.

Chico Basin’s annual Ranchlands concerts and camping support the education programs at the ranch, provided free to school children throughout the year, teaching the importance of ranching, conservation and land stewardship to over 2,000 students annually.

Chico Basin Ranch education programs: Ranching the New West, the Prairie Ecosystem, the Lone Star Prairie School House and Chico Basin Bird Roundup are available to school groups throughout the year.

The ranch has renovated the Lone Star Schoolhouse, built in 1898 and uses it as a facility for school kids. Programs include taking kids out into the prairie and wetlands to study nature, learning about ranching methods used to preserve and restore the land, into the saddle house and corrals to learn about ranching traditions, cowboys, horses and cattle, and tools of the trade, to the school house to learn about frontier life, and the bird banding station to learn about birds and their habitat needs. School groups can stay up to several days. Workshops for adults are also held for horsemanship, grazing and financial planning, ranch roping, art and cattle handling.

To visit the ranch with your school, please call (719) 683-7960 or email learning@chicobasinranch.com.

Concert Tickets $21, Camping $16 (price is per vehicle) and the Corb Lund Songwriting Workshop is $4.

Tickets can be bought online at http://www.ChicoBasinRanch.com/Concerts (Prices will go up at the gate).

For questions please call (719) 683-7960 or email info@chicobasinranch.com.