Actor Val Kilmer has dropped the asking price of his Pecos River Ranch by $10 million.

The 5,328-acre ranch with a 10-bedroom, 10-bathroom, 11,573-square-foot house, about 22 miles from Santa Fe, was put on the market in early 2009 for $33 million.

But a Craigslist ad last week lowered the price to $23 million.

Neither Darlene Streit of Santa Fe Realty Partners, who posted the new ad, nor Pam Sawyer, ranch manager, responded to messages seeking the reason for the price cut.

But real-estate agents say the market for high-end ranches, like other housing, remain soft.

The Craigslist ad described the ranch has having "virgin growths of piñon & juniper," two miles of direct frontage on the Pecos River on either side, "canyons lined w/towering rock walls & ponderosa pines, with phenomenal fishing."

"The SF National Forest abuts the Ranch's N. boundary & wildlife as diverse as bear down to ring tails, beavers & possums roam the property while eagle, peregrine falcon & ducks enjoy the clear sky," says the ad.

The ad includes photographs of buffalo roaming lush meadows, rock cliffs above the Pecos River and a well-appointed home with a cow skull hanging on a post, a zebra-skin rug on the wood floor of a porch and an Indian-blanket-upholstered couch with a cowboy hat hanging on the corner.

According to a website for the Pecos River Ranch, the lodging rate there is $200 a night for one of the six bedrooms, each with its own private bath and kitchen, plus $65 an hour for guided horseback trips, $50 an hour for guided bike trips or hikes and $100 an hour for jeep tours.

Kilmer recently won permission to open three guest houses on the ranch. The San Miguel County Commission narrowly approved the request, but Abran Tapia, who lives in the nearby village of Rowe, appealed the decision, demanding that Kilmer explain comments he made to two national magazines.

The October 2003 edition of Rolling Stone carried an article about Kilmer, quoting him about living in the "homicide capital of the Southwest" where 80 percent of the residents are drunk.

In 2005, Esquire magazine interviewed Kilmer about the emotional toll on an actor playing American veterans of the Vietnam conflict. He said many were "borderline criminals or poor ... wretched kids" who "got beat up by their dads" and "couldn't finagle a scholarship."

On May 4, Kilmer was given a police escort to the county courthouse in Las Vegas, N.M., where he admitted feeling "the sting of my words" when he read them. He said his comment about intoxicated residents was a warning to a Rolling Stone writer to drive safely, and he never meant to disparage veterans in the Esquire piece.

Kilmer, 50, is known for his starring roles in The Doors (1991), Tombstone (1993) and Batman Forever (1995). His films in post-production or recently released include Georgia, The Irishman and MacGruber.

Contact Tom Sharpe at 986-3080 or tsharpe@sfnewmexican.com.