A Wyoming ranch bigger than the state of Rhode Island has a new owner, ending months of speculation over the mystery buyer.
Christopher Robinson, a local elected official, purchased the 916,000-acre Pathfinder Ranches through his family-owned company, The Ensign Group L.C., according to KPCW.
The deal closed January 14 for the sprawling property that was listed last summer for $79.5 million. The final purchase price was not disclosed.
Stretching across four counties in Wyoming, Pathfinder Ranches encompasses roughly 1 percent of the state’s total land mass, according to KPCW. At 1,431 square miles, it is nearly the size of Delaware. By comparison, New York City spans about 300 square miles, while Rhode Island covers just over 1,000 sq miles.
The property even eclipses the fictional Dutton Ranch from the wildly popular TV series Yellowstone, which was depicted as between 775,000 and 825,000 acres.
America’s largest private landowner in 2026 is Stan Kroenke, according to Land 100. Kroenke controls an estimated 2,700,000 acres across the country.
CNN founder Ted Turner is also in the top five largest private landowners with two million acres spanning the Southeast, the Great Plains, and the American West.
Robinson, a Summit County Council member who already controls roughly one million acres of land, acquired Pathfinder just four years after buying the neighboring 86,000-acre Stone Ranch.
The ranch, named for 19th-century explorer John C. Frémont, is made up of four main properties spread across the Rocky Mountain region, and surrounds much of Pathfinder Reservoir, according to the Swan Land Company website. It contains over 20 miles of the Sweetwater River, and includes portions of the Pedro, Ferris, Seminoe, and Green Mountain ranges.
One of the most notable landmarks is Independence Rock, which is located along the historic Oregon, Mormon, Pony Express, and California Trails. Portions of the trails, which were trekked by early pioneers, weave through the ranch.
“The family from whom we bought the Stone Ranch used to own the heart of the Pathfinder, and they sold it in, say, 1975. And so we’re kind of reuniting it,” Robinson, CEO of The Ensign Group, told KPCW. “It’s now one big landscape.”
According to the Summit County website, Robinson is on the Summit County Council, a seat he has held since his election in 2008. In December, Robinson announced that he would not run for reelection.
Robinson said the Stone Ranch will serve as a key connector between the eastern and western sections of Pathfinder, allowing Ensign to operate the land as a single, self-sustaining livestock range, according to Cowboy State Daily.
“So, we’re kind of reuniting that, and we intend to, we’re operators,” Robinson told the outlet. “We’re not generally landlords. We’re going to, over time, grow into it, where we’re mostly running our own livestock on it.”
Robinson said the deal reflects both business interests and long-term conservation goals.
“We love land and water,” Robinson added. “We think it’s a good long-term investment, and we like the opportunities it affords us to be stewards over a piece of God’s creation.”
