If you’re looking for a holiday weekend getaway this summer look no further. The mountain campus has opened its doors for faculty, staff and alumni of Colorado State University.
The Mountain Campus has been a part of Colorado State University since 1912, when Congress granted Colorado State University the opportunity to select a piece of land in the Roosevelt National Forest in order to build a site for biological research and field study. CSU President Charles E. Lory and Colorado Gov. E.M. Ammons finally found the 1,600-acre plot of land, now known as the Mountain Campus in 1914. The Mountain Campus now hosts conferences, workshops, meetings, student learning and retreats during their hours of operation from mid-May to mid-October.
For the 2022 summer getaways, the Mountain Campus is opening on May 28-30 for their Memorial Day Weekend retreat and July 1-4 as their Independence Weekend retreat. As of right now, they are sold out for their Labor Day Weekend retreat, which lands on Sept. 2-5, however, people are welcome to join the waitlist for any weekend if it is sold out.
During your stay at the Mountain Campus, you will be provided with a meal plan that includes meals for your arrival and departure days as well as any day in between. If you are spending one of your days at the Mountain Campus enjoying nature and hiking, sack lunches will be available to you to take with you.
While you stay at the Mountain Campus, you will be given the opportunity to stay in the North Dorm or the Conference Center Cabins. Each Conference Center Cabins are equipped with six rooms, all are fully furnished with a total of 20 beds per cabin. The cabins also have a private bathroom in each room, a common room and a porch with a beautiful view of the mountains. The Conference Center Cabins are great for alumni, faculty and staff who want to have a getaway with their family. The North Dorm is equipped with 19 rooms, fully furnished with two to 10 twin beds in each room. They also have two community style restrooms, a large common room and a large outdoor porch. The North Dorm is great for larger groups who want to have a weekend getaway together at the Mountain Campus.
Both buildings provide their occupants with beautiful views of the mountains and an opportunity to see wildlife from the porch. The Mountain Campus is surrounded by multiple hikes for the more active vacationers These hikes will allow vacationers to view different wildlife, like the yellow-bellied marmot, a beaver-like animal, pika, which is a short-eared cousin to the rabbit, along with other wildlife like moose and elk. There are hiking opportunities that provide simple walks around the campus or longer day hikes. Check out the mountain campus website to view all the hikes that surround the campus.
If staying at the Mountain Campus isn’t what you want to do, but you are the adrenaline junkie type, check out their Challenge Corse. The Challenge course is a rope course that is meant to help team building and enhance personal growth. Each course takes about 4 hours with a minimum of 14 participants. The Challenge Course is a great way to spend a summer day up in mountains.
Registration for the Mountain Campus getaways are open now, to register just go to the Colorado State University Mountain Campus website at mountaincampus.colostate.edu, under the Mountain Campus Getaways page. This page will provide you with hiking information, 2022 rates for rooms and activities as well as contact information.
