Chief Hosa Campground

The Chief Hosa Campground (elevation 7,700 feet) is a national historic site located along I-70 about 20 miles west of Denver. This area was used by Native Americans for centuries before the city of Denver purchased it in 1913 and turned it into “America’s first motor-camping area.” Chief Hosa refers to the Ute Indian Chief, Little Raven, who continued to camp here after the whites settled the area. “Hosa” means “beautiful” in Ute, and is the term both Native Americans and whites used to describe the Chief’s peacemaking efforts.

Today, the campground has 61 sites (35 RV sites with water and electric and 26 tent sites) set on 58 wooded acres within the 2,400 acre Genesee Mountain Park. A short stroll from the campground lies the historic, recently renovated Chief Hosa Lodge, designed in 1918 by the famous western architect Jacques Benedict. The 3,340 square foot lodge is constructed of hand-quarried Colorado “Rainbow” granite and lodge-pole pine. Today it is used to host events and weddings. From the porch of the lodge there are commanding views of the Continental Divide.

The campground is typically open from May 1 through the third week of September. For more information, call 303-526-1324.

Too many long driving days in a row! The family fabric was being stretched and twisted. We didn’t intend to go this far today, but just couldn’t find a desirable place to stop. The KOA in Strasburg, Colorado that we planned to stop at looked depressing. I guess when we think Colorado, we think of majestic snow-capped mountains, but this place was east of the Rockies and still in the flatlands. One of these days I’m going to write a campground guide that deals more with the overall aesthetics as opposed to just listing its amenities.

So we drove onward, through Denver and higher and higher into the Rockies. As the mountain views opened up before us, we finally began to feel like we were on vacation. We found a great little campground called Chief Hosa right off I-70 about 20 miles west of Denver. It had an absolutely lovely forest setting with tremendous views of the Continental Divide, and the temperature at this elevation (7,700 feet) had cooled to a very comfortable 70 degrees

The boys went for a run and Herb while I strolled over to the porch of the Chief Hosa Lodge with hors d’oeuvres and a well-deserved bottle of wine. The campground host had told us that this historic lodge was no longer open, but that the views from the porch were spectacular. He was right. After peaking in the windows of this beautiful granite and lodge-pole lodge, we spread out our feast of snacks on the porch and toasted a beautiful sunset. The boys soon returned from their run and quickly devoured the rest of our snacks.

I think we all needed this stop to rejuvenate and remember why we were driving all these miles in the first place.