Directions/ Parking: 6145 Shoup Road, north of town. Take Powers north to Woodmen, go east then north on Black Forest Road to Shoup Road. Turn west for 0.72 miles to the La Foret site. Entrance is on the south side, just past Rusk Lane. Proceed up the hill to Ponderosa Lodge to register at 6:00, then a tour of the Lodge at 6:30. We will then drive the ½ mile distance for a tour of the Chapel.
The heavily forested site attracts 13,000 visitors annually from the United Church of Christ (UCC) and other churches/ religious groups, business and family retreats, receptions, weddings and team building events. It has hosted the popular Meadow Grass Music Festival for 10 years. The Ponderosa Lodge was built in 1928 as a summer home for local philanthropist Alice Bemis Taylor. The lodge, along with the Taylor Memorial Chapel (built to honor her late husband Jack Taylor, who died in 1929) were designed by noted Santa Fe architect John Gaw Meem. After Alice’s death in 1942 her Foundation deeded the property to the Colorado Congregational Church, now known as the Rocky Mountain Conference of the United Church of Christ. Both the lodge and chapel are on the National Register of Historic Places. The Lodge is also on the Colorado Register of Historic Properties. A $200,000 grant by History Colorado in 2015, and a matching grant from supporters, paid for renovations to the lodge in 2017.
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Tour Guides: Larry McCulloch, Executive Director of La Foret
HPA Coordinator: Ron and Sue Harman
Registration begins at: 6:00pm
Disabled Access: Yes Restrooms: At the Lodge only
Our member supported non-profit organization has grown over the past 25 years since our launch in 1999 to become the leading voice for historic preservation in the Pikes Peak region through advocacy, education, events and strategic alliances.