Hardware Ranch is a working ranch

Ranch

A ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in the western United States and Canada, though...

 owned by the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

. It is located in the Blacksmith Fork Canyon, which is part of the Wasatch-Cache National Forest

Wasatch-Cache National Forest

Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest is a United States National Forest located primarily in northern Utah , with smaller parts extending into southeastern Idaho and southwestern Wyoming . The name is from the Ute word Wasatch for a low place in high mountains, and the French word Cache meaning to...

, about 15 mi (24.1 km) east of Hyrum, Utah

Hyrum, Utah

As of the census of 2000, there are 6,316 people, 1,683 households, and 1,497 families residing in the city. The population density is 1,617.2 people per square mile . There are 1,744 housing units at an average density of 446.5 per square mile...

. Elk

Elk

The Elk is the large deer, also called Cervus canadensis or wapiti, of North America and eastern Asia.Elk may also refer to:Other antlered mammals:...

 are fed here through the winter to prevent them from coming to inhabited areas further down the canyon in search of food. Visitors pay for sleigh rides among the elk herds.

History

The state of Utah purchased the ranch in 1946 from the Box Elder Hardware Company, using money from the Wildlife Restoration Act. The original size of the ranch was 7560 acre (30.6 km²; 11.8 sq mi), but acquisitions by the state enlarged it to about 19000 acre (76.9 km²; 29.7 sq mi). During the first year only 120 Rocky Mountain Elk

Rocky Mountain Elk

The Rocky Mountain Elk is a subspecies of elk found in the Rocky Mountains and adjacent ranges of Western North America. The winter ranges are most common in open forests and floodplain marshes in the lower elevations. In the summer it migrates to the subalpine forests and alpine basins...

were fed over the winter, but in 2008 that number is between 500 and 600.