You are here

Colorado » The Colorado » Grand County » Rocky Mountain National Park » Holzwarth Ranch Historic District

Holzwarth Ranch Historic District

-A A +A
1917. 8 miles north of Grand Lake on Trail Ridge Rd. (NR)
  • Holzwarth Ranch Historic District (Tom Noel)
  • (Photograph by Matthew Aungst)
  • (Photograph by Matthew Aungst)
  • (Photograph by Matthew Aungst)
  • (Photograph by Matthew Aungst)
  • (Photograph by Matthew Aungst)
  • (Photograph by Matthew Aungst)
  • (Photograph by Matthew Aungst)
  • (Photograph by Matthew Aungst)
  • (Photograph by Matthew Aungst)
  • (Photograph by Matthew Aungst)

John Holzwarth, Sr., a Denver saloonkeeper forced out of business by statewide prohibition in 1916, homesteaded here in 1917. When the Fall River Road to Rocky Mountain National Park opened in 1920, the Holzwarths began taking in visitors for $2 a day. The original, 1917 “Mama Cabin” soon had baby buildings, of which an ice-house, a woodshed, a taxidermy shop, guest cabins, tent cabins, and the 1945 Rose Cabin survive in a lush meadow on the headwaters of the Colorado River. John Holzwarth, Jr., ran the dude ranch until 1973, when it was acquired by the National Park Service. Known as the Holzwarth Trout Ranch and most recently as the Never Summer Ranch, the Holzwarth spread exemplifies dude ranches where city slickers exulted in rusticity. The National Park Service has restored the hewn, V-notched log structures with simple gable roofs.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Thomas J. Noel
×

Data

What's Nearby

Grand River Ditch
Trail Ridge Road
Alpine Visitor Center
Fall River Road
Grand Lake Lodge

Citation

Thomas J. Noel, "Holzwarth Ranch Historic District", [Grand Lake, Colorado], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/CO-01-GA27.

Print Source

Buildings of Colorado, Thomas J. Noel. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997, 456-457.

If SAH Archipedia has been useful to you, please consider supporting it.

SAH Archipedia tells the story of the United States through its buildings, landscapes, and cities. This freely available resource empowers the public with authoritative knowledge that deepens their understanding and appreciation of the built environment. But the Society of Architectural Historians, which created SAH Archipedia with University of Virginia Press, needs your support to maintain the high-caliber research, writing, photography, cartography, editing, design, and programming that make SAH Archipedia a trusted online resource available to all who value the history of place, heritage tourism, and learning.

,