Starting 160 miles southwest of Denver, where the Sangre de Cristo and San Juan mountain ranges part ways at Poncha Pass, the San Luis Valley spreads out 65 miles from east to west, plus another 120 miles south to the New Mexico border., visitors will take in the fields of potatoes, alfalfa and barley, and they’ll visit protected lands, from Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve to three wetland-covered national wildlife refuges.
One of the main goals of the project is to bridge Colorado’s capital with a rural region facing high rates of poverty and extreme drought that threatens the valley’s farm-based economy. For a population of 50,000, increased tourism could provide an alternative, less resource-taxed future.Jintak Han, The Denver Post
“You’re going to come here, and even though it’s a remote location, the site was built for connection, and chance encounters are very much part of the underlying experience,” Gildar said in mid-August, seven years after his initial visit, as the Frontier opened to overnight guests. “The thought is, yeah, we have really nice accommodations, but we’re still in a landscape that’s unpredictable, and that’s part of what I hope is the draw.
As local families and visitors from as far as California gathered on lawn chairs and blankets to watch the two-night movie lineup, Antonito- and Berkeley, Calif.-based architect Ron Rael was finishing the construction of eight adobe “Skylos,” 3D-printed silo structures formed in a circle and open to the sky above them. They are the first of the Frontier’s earth installations and will become a gathering place for visitors to the Drive-Inn, complete with a hot plunge pool at their center.
thknwco I love this.
thknwco Kinda cool, but call me when Blazing Saddles is the feature.