Base your Colorado vacation in the heart of historic Cascade, at the foot of the Pikes Peak Highway. From the late nineteenth through the early twentieth centuries, this comfortable old Victorian functioned as the region's Ranger Station. Today it is rejuvenated and furnished to reflect its past as a gathering place for locals and visitors eager to hunt and fish among the legendary forested slopes surrounding Pikes Peak. Your stay at the Ranger Station will open the door to an earlier time when folks came up Ute Pass to relax among the mountain spruce and ponderosa, away from the heat of the "lowlands" and bustle of city life.
The Station's spacious kitchen welcomes you back to a real connection with great-grandma, sitting at the table over coffee or tea, chatting and keeping hands busy helping with dinner chores. The dining table invites the family to eat the old-fashioned way – together, enjoying meals with the honest hunger that fresh mountain air and exercise bring on. Food never tasted so good, nor sleep so deep and sweet, as in the embrace of this generous old house. In the livingroom, the 100+ year-old fireplace still works, reminding you that summer is only one of Colorado’s mountain moods.
There is much to do, close by and within easy driving. Across Highway 24, you can enjoy a glimpse of brown and rainbow trout from the deck of the famous Wines of Colorado over fast-moving Fountain Creek. Only five minutes from the Station, Waldo Canyon beckons the hiker. Road bikers can join the Olympic bicyclists as they train, cycling up Ute Pass from Manitou to Cascade. Local bike shops also bus cyclists to the top of Pike's Peak, from which you can bike an exciting 19 miles down to the foot of the highway! Or you can take the Pikes Peak Highway by car -- just make sure your brakes are good!
The Ranger Station has a large, welcoming porch, perfect for unwinding in the late afternoon after a day filled with Colorado adventures.
The Station is completely furnished with everything you need to be comfortable on your vacation. The kitchen is set up with refrigerator, oven-stove, microwave, dishes, flatware, toaster, etc, etc. We've tried to think of everything a good cook needs; there's a BBQ grill and picnic table outside too. Inside you can relax with a good book or watch a movie from satellite, a DVD or VHS.
At last, you're at your Colorado home-away-from-home, furnished and decorated to awaken in you that feeling described by Gonzo’s song in “The Muppet Movie”:
This looks familiar, vaguely familiar,
Almost unreal, yet, it’s too soon to feel yet;
So close to home, and yet so far away –
I’m going to go back there someday...
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