Top 5 Largest Ranches in Texas

Texas is home to some of the largest privately (and now publicly) held land tracts in the country. Ranching has shaped Texas's economy and identity for nearly 200 years, and today the state's biggest ranches still function as working cattle operations, hunting leases, oil and mineral producers, and increasingly, conservation land. Below are the five largest ranches in Texas by acreage, along with who owns them today.

Top 5 Largest Ranches in Texas

The top 5 largest ranches in Texas are King Ranch, Briscoe Ranch, Waggoner Ranch, O’Connor Ranch, and Brewster Ranch.

1. King Ranch: 825,000 acres

2. Briscoe Ranch: 640,000 acres

3. Waggoner Ranch: 535,000 acres

4. O’Connor Ranch: 500,000 acres

5. Brewster Ranch: 353,000 acres

1. King Ranch: 825,000 Acres

Location: South Texas, spanning Kleberg, Kenedy, Willacy, and Nueces counties

Owner: King family descendants (Kleberg family trusts)

Founded: 1853

At roughly 825,000 acres, King Ranch is the largest ranch in the United States, and it holds the same distinction within Texas by a wide margin. Founded in 1853 by steamboat captain Richard King, it spans four counties and covers more than 1,200 square miles. King Ranch is credited with developing the Santa Gertrudis cattle breed, and today operates cattle, citrus, cotton, and hunting divisions. 

2. Briscoe Ranch: 640,000 Acres

Location: South and West Texas, spread across roughly ten counties from the Rio Grande to Uvalde

Owner: The Briscoe family (Briscoe Ranch, Inc.)

Founded: Early-to-mid 1900s

The Briscoe Ranch is the second largest ranch in Texas, spanning 640,000 acres across ten counties. It was built through decades of land acquisition led by rancher Dolph Briscoe Sr. and expanded by his son, former Texas Governor Dolph Briscoe Jr. The family runs cattle and oil operations and leases land for hunting, and still uses the historic Open Six brand. Today the ranch is run by Briscoe Jr.'s children, who oversee more than 650,000 acres and a herd of over 15,000 cattle. Unlike King Ranch, Briscoe's holdings are dispersed across multiple non-contiguous divisions rather than a single connected block.

3. Waggoner Ranch: 535,000 Acres

Location: North Texas, near Vernon and Wichita Falls

Owner: Stan Kroenke (Kroenke Ranches)

Founded: 1849

The Waggoner Ranch spans 535,000 contiguous acres in North Texas and is often cited as the largest ranch in the U.S. under one fence, meaning its entire footprint connects without public roads cutting through it. Daniel Waggoner started the ranch in 1852 with just 230 longhorn cattle. In 2016, the ranch sold to billionaire Stan Kroenke for a reported $725 million, and it remains one of the most recognizable ownership transitions in Texas ranching history. 

4. O’Connor Ranch: 500,000 Acres

Location: South Texas, across Refugio, Aransas, Goliad, San Patricio, McMullen, and La Salle counties

Owner: Descendants of Thomas O'Connor (multiple family branches)

Founded: 1834

The fourth largest ranch in the U.S. is the O'Connor Ranch, which traces back to Thomas O'Connor, an Irish immigrant who arrived in Texas in 1834 and fought in the Texas Revolution. After selling his cattle herd in 1873 for $140,000, he reinvested in land and fenced over 500,000 acres across six South Texas counties, becoming known in his era as the wealthiest man in Texas and its largest land and cattle owner. Following his death in 1887, the ranch passed to his sons and has remained in family hands for six generations. O'Connor family cattle also played a role in the development of the Santa Gertrudis breed alongside neighboring King Ranch. Today the original holdings are divided among numerous O'Connor descendants and managed as separate family divisions.

5. Brewster Ranch: 353,000 Acres

Location: Brewster County, Far West Texas, bordering Big Bend National Park

Owner: Texas General Land Office (state-owned)

Assembled: Over roughly 25 years by private owner Brad Kelley; sold to the state in 2024

The Brewster Ranch is a 353,785-acre assemblage of 28 historic ranches, lying primarily east of Highway 385 and abutting the 801,163-acre Big Bend National Park and the 103,000-acre Black Gap Wildlife Management Area. Kelley, who had been the largest private landowner in Texas, pieced the property together over roughly two decades before bringing it to market in 2019. The Texas General Land Office ultimately purchased the ranch in late 2024 for $164.6 million, making it the only ranch on this list held by a government entity rather than a private family or investment group. Combined with the adjacent park and wildlife management area, the acquisition created a conservation sanctuary of more than 1.25 million acres in the Chihuahuan Desert.

How We Mapped These Ranches with LandApp Pro

Every map in this post was built using LandApp Pro's nationwide ownership data and parcel search tools. Here's the workflow:

1. Search by owner in the Parcel Search tool. Open Parcel Search, select the state (Texas), and enter the owner or entity name to pull every parcel tied to that ownership record.

2. Save the results to a Portfolio. Once the parcels populate, save the full set to a Portfolio so all of a ranch's tracts (even non-contiguous divisions) are grouped together.

3. View and build from the Portfolio. Open the saved Portfolio in the parcel data tool to review individual parcel details, generate Property Reports, and build custom maps like the ones above.

This same workflow works for any owner name, anywhere in the country - not just the largest ranches.

Parcel Search User Manual

Curious Who Owns Land Near You?

Nationwide ownership and assessor data isn't limited to Texas's most famous ranches. With LandApp Pro, you can search by owner name, generate unlimited Property Reports, and pull assessor records for virtually any parcel in the country starting at $6/month.

Learn More & Subscribe