Field Guide · Inside Cedar Creek
Double Eagle Ranch
An acre and elbow room off Hwy 71 — Cedar Creek's answer to buyers who want land without leaving the airport's orbit.
← All neighborhood guides Part of Cedar Creek Out East · Updated July 2026
The feel of Double Eagle Ranch
Double Eagle Ranch is what a lot of buyers picture when they say they want “land near Austin” — and then discover how rarely the market actually offers it. Set off Hwy 71 in Cedar Creek, in the transitional country where post oaks and cedar start giving way to the Lost Pines, the community spreads roughly a thousand platted homesites across rolling terrain at close to an acre apiece. The houses are farmhouse-styled — deep porches, side-entry garages, board-and-batten gables — set back from the street with real distance between neighbors. There’s no amenity center and no waterpark pool, and that’s the point: the acre is the amenity.
What makes it different from ordinary rural acreage is the frame around it. Deed restrictions keep out the junked cars and commercial clutter that unrestricted county land permits, an HOA of about $30 a month maintains the entries and common ground, and the community sits minutes from a 47-acre greenbelt along the Colorado River. It’s country living with the edges sanded — more ordered than raw Cedar Creek acreage, far looser than a master plan.
The homes and the market
Two markets share the ranch. Resale homes — mostly 2016-onward builds of 1,800 to 3,000 square feet — typically sell between $400K and $540K per Redfin and Zillow public market data as of mid-2026. New construction continues in the newer sections, where semi-custom plans on 0.8-to-1-acre lots have been listing from roughly $590K to $670K; verify current, since this is a thin enough market that a handful of sales move the numbers. Builder rosters rotate by phase out here, so check who’s actually building in the section you’re considering.
The acreage homework applies. Lots run on aerobic septic systems, which carry maintenance contracts and periodic inspections city-sewer buyers have never thought about — on a resale, the septic inspection belongs in your option period alongside a hard look at the survey, the drainage, and any easements crossing an acre lot. Water comes from the regional supply corporation rather than a city utility (verify the specific provider and tap status for any lot). None of this is a reason to walk; all of it is a reason to have someone on your side who has read these files before. We put every one of these items in writing before you’re committed.
Schools, taxes, and the practical file
Double Eagle Ranch is zoned to Bastrop ISD’s Cedar Creek campuses — Cedar Creek Elementary through Cedar Creek High School, the community anchor a few minutes down the road. The honest picture is the one we give across the district: accountability ratings have historically trailed the bigger suburban districts around Austin, and that’s a real consideration for family buyers and for resale. Campus results vary year to year, career-and-technical programs are expanding alongside the corridor’s incoming employers, and we’ll verify the exact assignment for any address, since zones shift as the county grows.
The tax line is where this community quietly wins. Unincorporated Bastrop County means no city tax; no MUD or PID means no district debt riding on your bill. The stack is county, school district, and emergency services, landing effective rates around 1.5–1.9% — verify the current rate for the specific parcel. Against a new master plan carrying 2.7–3.1% all-in, the difference on a $600K home is several hundred dollars a month, every month, for as long as you own it. That’s the honest counterweight to the higher sticker prices here: run the payment, not the price.
Getting around
Hwy 71 is the community’s whole transportation story, for better and worse. Austin-Bergstrom runs about 20–25 minutes west; Tesla’s Gigafactory about the same via 71 and SH-130; COTA is roughly 15 minutes; and the SpaceX, Boring Company, and film-studio cluster along the corridor is closer still. Downtown Austin is a real 35–50 minutes depending on the hour and the state of 71’s intersections through Del Valle. Downtown Bastrop — the nearest actual Main Street, with the restaurants and the H-E-B — is about 15 minutes east. The caution we give every buyer: 71 carries everything from commuters to gravel trucks, growth is outpacing the roadwork, and there is no second artery. If your life runs northwest of downtown, be honest about what that drive means daily.
Who it fits
Double Eagle Ranch fits buyers who want acreage without going fully rural — room for the shop, the garden, the dogs, and the dark sky, with deed restrictions keeping the street presentable and an east-side paycheck twenty-five minutes away. It fits airport, Tesla, COTA, and studio commuters better than any comparable acreage west of Austin, and it fits payment-minded buyers who understand what a 1.5–1.9% tax rate does to a monthly budget.
It fits less well for buyers who want a pool and a packed amenity calendar — for that, compare The Colony across the river, where the master-plan package comes with the MUD to fund it. Buyers wanting looser land rules or lower entry prices should read our Cedar Creek guide for the wider acreage market. We’ll walk both options with you and tell you straight which file your priorities actually point to.
The local's list
What we tell clients after the paperwork's signedGreen space & trails
- McKinney Roughs Nature Park on 71 — 18 miles of LCRA trail through the Lost Pines down to the Colorado; horses welcome, and the canyon overlooks surprise people
- The 47-acre Colorado River greenbelt minutes from the front section — quiet bank fishing most evenings
- Bastrop and Buescher state parks — fifteen to twenty minutes east, linked by the winding Park Road 1C through the pines
- McKinney Falls State Park — twenty-five minutes toward Austin for the falls, the cypress pools, and an easy trail day with kids
Eat & drink
- Berdoll Pecan Candy and Gift Company on 71 — pecan pie from the 24-hour vending machine beside Ms Pearl, the giant squirrel
- Stories Ranch Kitchen at the Hyatt Lost Pines — farm-to-table Texas game house locals book for occasions without driving to Austin
- Roadhouse on Highway 21 in Bastrop — its jalapeño cream cheese burger made Texas Monthly's best-burgers-in-Texas list
Only-here bonuses
- COTA is fifteen minutes up the road — Formula 1 weekends and amphitheater concerts, home before the parking lots empty
- Genuinely dark skies — an acre lot out here still means stars most of Central Texas forgot
- The Hyatt Regency Lost Pines functions as the neighborhood resort — river rafting, trail rides, and holiday events on your doorstep
See it in person
Walk Double Eagle Ranch with us
An hour on the ground tells you more than a week online. We'll show you the streets that fit your life — and tell you which ones don't.
Prefer to talk first? Call (512) 537-8623 or email contact@raresidential.com.
Keep exploring
If you like Double Eagle Ranch, also look at
Cedar Creek
The crossroads between Austin's airport and Bastrop — acreage value in the path of the eastern boom.
Bastrop
A genuinely historic river town in the Lost Pines — now on the doorstep of Austin's eastern jobs boom.
The Colony
A riverfront master plan in the Lost Pines — trees and topography at production pricing, minutes from Bastrop's Main Street.
