It’s Otterly Adorable
Blue Hills Ranch & Resort is a wildlife oasis
By RACHEL STRICKLAND | Photos courtesy of BLUE HILLS RANCH & RESORT
It’s no secret that Central Texas is full of hidden gems if you know where to look. Blue Hills Ranch & Resort, a 150-acre wildlife oasis located only seven minutes from McGregor, is one such magical place where guests can swim with otters, dine with giraffes and enjoy guided safari tours.
Matt Lieberman, owner of Blue Hills Ranch, was born and raised in California but traveled to Texas often as a kid to visit his grandparents. When he finally moved to Texas and bought the ranch, he says it was kind of a way to get back to his roots. “[The ranch] was just going to be a retirement project, but it turned into way more than I thought,” he says.
In California, Lieberman worked for a local fire department for 15 years and owned a medical company. He says that while he’s semi-retired now, he still volunteers for the fire department in McGregor and maintains ownership of his medical company in California. Lieberman bought the ranch at the end of 2018, but he didn’t really start getting it up-and-running until the end of 2019. He claims that the ranch is now 95% open because there are many other projects that he’s still working on, including acquiring more animals, building more cabins, an event venue, a pavilion, and adding a few more RV sites.
The animals are obviously the main attraction at Blue Hills, and for good reason. Lieberman says they have around 150 animals and over 20 different species, including giraffes, zebras, kangaroos, camels, wild mustangs, cows, otters and many more. And of course, each animal has its own name, personality and story. Lieberman admits that the animals are like his kids. In fact, he raised the two giraffes at Blue Hills since they were babies. He says he had to bottle feed them every four hours for an entire year, and this experience has made him understandably quite close to the giraffes, whose names are Blue and Google. A new barn is currently being constructed for the giraffes, and he hopes to get some elephants who would live in there, too.
One of the things that sets Blue Hills apart from zoos or safaris is that the animals at Lieberman’s ranch are typically the ones that no one else wants due to disabilities or deficiencies. For example, one of the cows at the ranch is blind and some of the deer have broken antlers.
This may not sound like a big deal, but according to Lieberman, many ranch owners don’t want animals with special needs or imperfections. “Three-legged donkey? Bring it to me,” he says. “I’ll be glad to have it. We’re trying to find animals that no one’s going to give a chance to.” Lieberman says that part of his motivation behind collecting animals who need a loving forever home is to show kids that “just because it’s not perfect, doesn’t mean someone doesn’t want it or won’t love it.”
The animals at Blue Hills are free to roam the entirety of the 150 acres. While Lieberman and his team make sure to provide water and feed during the winter, the animals mostly take care of themselves and eat grass. “The bison play with the kangaroos, and the camel hangs out with the bison,” he says. “And we have a pig whose boyfriend is a kangaroo.” There is a veterinarian who comes out to the ranch once a month to check on the animals, but other than that, they are fairly low-maintenance and contented to roam freely. “I don’t like cages, even though it’s 150-acre cage,” Lieberman says. “I just hope the animals walk around and don’t realize it.”
According to Lieberman, the ranch’s success was immediate — the two cabins that he had at the beginning were booked up for a year and a half shortly after they went live on the website. “I was like, ‘I’ve got to build more cabins!’” he says, laughing. Today, they have five cabins, but there is usually still a long waiting list.
Even though Lieberman has been coming to the Waco area since he was a kid, he admits that there’s not much to do there. “Who comes to Waco on a Tuesday?” he jokes. This is why he was so surprised when people kept renting his cabins at the rate that they did. He was even more shocked when he found out that people were traveling from places like Canada, Mexico, and even the Netherlands to stay at his ranch.
“It’s mind blowing because it’s just McGregor. Why would someone come out here?” he says, laughing. “It used to be just [people from] Dallas, Austin, and Houston. And now, it’s like, wait — you’re here from Canada?” He says that they now have a world map where guests can use push pins to indicate where they’re from.
While the ranch gets lots of customers from other states, and even other countries, Lieberman wants locals to come out and enjoy the ranch as well, even if they don’t stay the night. He says he’s working on discount packages for folks local to the greater McGregor area because appealing to his neighbors is important to him.
There is a lot to do at Blue Hills, from animal-watching on the patios overlooking the scenic ranch, to safari tours where a guide takes guests around the property in an ATV to visit the animals in their natural habitats. However, the activities don’t just stop at watching the animals; guests can interact with them.
Lieberman says that they have an arena where the otters live, as well as a hot tub and a pool with glass sides. People are welcome to watch the otters swim, or they can get in there and swim with them. They also offer an experience where guests can eat dinner while hanging out and interacting with the giraffes. Lieberman says his goal is to become a sort of all-inclusive resort for the guests staying at the ranch. “We’re not there yet, but that’s where we’re headed.”
There are also six RV hookups at the ranch for those who prefer to bring their RVs instead of staying in one of the cabins. Lieberman says there are technically 21 hookups, but he’s only renting out six because he wants to keep the atmosphere relaxed. “I don’t want to overload the property to where it’s just too many people and you don’t feel at peace,” he explains.
Couples who are interested in tying the knot surrounded by exotic animals can do so at Blue Hills Ranch. However, Lieberman says that starting in April 2024, couples will have to rent the entire ranch for the weekend.
Lieberman has a lot of plans for the future. He owns another 220 acres across the street that is set up for horseback-riding where people can bring their horses to ride on the trails. But soon, he hopes to set up a fully functional riding arena with lights and stands that can be rented out for barrel racing, roping, or events like rodeos. He also plans to offer horse-boarding as well.
Blue Hills Ranch is an incredibly unique and easily accessible getaway for Central Texans and folks and from all over the world to enjoy.
“Hopefully everybody here can just relax and get out of the city,” Lieberman says.
IF YOU GO
Address: 2032 Blue Cut Rd N, McGregor
Phone: 833-711-1777
Website: bluehillsranch.com
Hours: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily
