Elkhorn Lodge in Estes Park is currently being threatened by a $50 million “Western Heritage Wonderland” idea that would turn the historic lodge into an amusement park like place. Photos by Linda Jones
By Linda Jones
The last of the great 19th century mountain lodges surrounding Estes Park is currently being threatened by developers. The Elkhorn Lodge sits on 65 [coveted] acres on the western edge of the town. Because of its remarkable historic integrity, Colorado Preservation Inc. declared the lodge a “Most Endangered Place” in 2010, calling the Elkhorn “the most unique property in the entire region.”
From its first settler, Joel Estes, who moved to the isolated Tahosa Valley in 1860, to today, the area around Estes Park has attracted swarms of visitors with its scenic beauty, its fishing and wildlife. The Elkhorn is the oldest continuously operating lodge in the entire Rocky Mountain region, outlasting dozens of competitors.
The Main Lodge has stayed rustic and many of the lodge’s original furniture is still in place.
A Fort Collins minister, Rev. McCreery, discovered the lovely valley on the Fall River and built a small summer cabin in 1874 as a retreat. Two years later a shopkeeper from Syracuse, N.Y., named William James came to hunt and fish and became infatuated with the area, as many have. He wired his wife Ella back in New York to sell the general store and the family home, pack up the kids and head West.
The James family originally homesteaded in the Black Canyon area, intending to start a cattle ranch, but the land there was higher and less hospitable to cattle, so James talked to McCreery and they traded their homesites. McCreery was now a half-day closer to Fort Collins on horseback and James was now on the Fall River.
The McCreery cabin was too small for the James family, which included three sons – Homer, Howard and Charles – at the time. Eleanor was born later. The James family built a one-story farmhouse in 1877 and began hosting people who came to fish, hunt and camp out in their meadow. Business was brisk and James switched his plans to feeding and boarding people, not cattle.
As popularity grew, so did the Lodge. The farmhouse was added onto and became the original lodge; the tents evolved into tent-cabins and eventually to cabins, which are the ones used today. Still the family needed more rooms, so in 1900 a cottage was enlarged into the Main Lodge. Three wings were added to this Lodge and the James family began purchasing Stickley furniture for the lobby. Today the lobby contains some of the finest examples of Stickley furniture in America and the Stickley Museum has made offers to purchase some of the pieces.
The Elkhorn ranked first in reputation among the dozens of lodges in the 1890s and into the 20th century. When F.O. and Flora Stanley were constructing their house, they chose to stay at the Elkhorn and the two men maintained a friendly competition for years. Other famous guests included Cornelius Otis Skinner, Paul Nitze, then Secretary of the Navy, and Augustus Busch, St. Louis beer baron. Guests usually stayed for a month and often for the entire summer. By summer’s end, everyone had become one large family.
Many of Estes Park’s “firsts” were built at the Elkhorn: first chapel, first schoolhouse, which served for three years, first golf course, first icehouse, first swimming hole, first fish hatchery and the first publicly-funded trail through a National Park.
The Main Lodge has stayed rustic, with no TV or telephones in the rooms, but every room, except for one, has its own bathroom. Pillow count in the Main Lodge is between 65 – 70 visitors. In addition to the sleeping rooms, the lodge has a large lobby, meeting rooms, dance hall and a 200-seat dining room. There are a total of 37 historic buildings on the 65 acres.
The James family ran the lodge for 84 years. After William James died in 1895, his wife Ella carried on with the assistance of son Homer, who graduated from medical school, and son Howard. (Charles died at the age of 20). Ella died in 1917 and Howard and his wife Edna managed the popular hostelry until Howard Sr. died in 1928, then his wife, Howard Jr. and Eleanor assumed management. Howard Sr. was known as “the best fisherman in the valley.” He once invited 140 guests to a fish fry in Horseshoe Park, then headed there to fish; when the guests arrived at noon, he had more than enough trout to feed the crowd. As one local noted, that feat was only dwarfed by Jesus in the Bible. In 1961 Howard Jr. sold the lodge, ending the association between the family and the Elkhorn. Howard Jr. ended his hotel career as CEO of Sheraton International Hotels Corp.
The Elkhorn Preservation Society was formed in 2010 to “help save, restore and preserve the last of Estes Park’s original tourist lodges.” The Preservation Society has an ambitious goal of restoring every building on the property: the Chapel, schoolhouse, the cabins built in the 1880s, the original 1877 farmhouse and the trout pond.
The $50 million plan envisions a Western Heritage Wonderland with employees in period costume, ceremonial Native American dancers, a blacksmith, mountain men, stagecoaches and wagons. The restored buildings will include a Wounded Warriors retreat with handicap accessibility. They envision a pavilion for the chuckwagon dinners, restoring the Main Lodge to its turn-of-the-20th-century appearance and restoring the kitchen and restaurant. A large outdoor stage would attract concerts, horse activities will be expanded and a 2.5-mile zip line will be installed. Most of all they envision a year-round adventure park, with cross-country ski trails and a mountaintop restaurant/event center.
Currently this plan is one of five projects vying for tourism-related state sales-tax subsidies. Only two plans will be chosen by the Office of Economic Development; the other four are a tourism and commercial project in Montrose County, a mile-long riverfront development in Glendale, a downtown riverwalk project in Pueblo and a sports complex/park in Douglas County. As Estes Park Mayor Bill Pinkham sees it, “We are sort of a David against Goliath.”
