Hayden Ranch Headquarters
The Hayden Ranch was developed along the Arkansas River at the base of Box Creek and Corske Creek and spanned over 3000 acres at its peak. Originally called the Elkhorn Ranch, it was first homesteaded in 1860. During its early years, ownership was split and transferred between many famous Leadville figures including Father John Dyer, Elias Dyer, and Charles Mater. Finally, the ranch was purchased by the Hayden family in 1872. The Haydens operated the ranch for decades, raising cattle and producing hay of such high quality it was even shipped to Kentucky for use as race horse feed. The Callahan Company acquired the ranch in 1933 and held it as a working cattle ranch until its sale in 1947. After Callahan’s sale, the ranch was used primarily for seasonal grazing and most of the buildings on site fell into disuse.
Investors emboldened by the explosion of skiing in Aspen and Vail purchased thousands of acres of ranchland including the Hayden Ranch in the 1960s, believing the Arkansas Valley would be next. Stone columns constructed for a gondola to the top of Mt. Elbert, never completed, still stand on the site of the ranch. The skiing boom never arrived, and the property remained lightly used until 1997, when the investment consortium opted to liquidate around 7,000 acres of their holdings.
Many local citizens felt that the likely development of the area into privately-owned “ranchettes” would compromise the sweeping open spaces of the Arkansas Valley, disrupting wildlife habitat and migration, degrading viewsheds, and destroying important links to the County’s ranching heritage. Despite the desire of citizens to protect these lands, an economic downturn and budget deficits driven by the closure of the Climax mine severely restricted Lake County’s ability to purchase the property for preservation.
The City of Aurora, while working to acquire water rights in the area, optioned the Hayden Ranch in 1998. LCOSI was formed in response to this offering, assembling a mix of stakeholders invested in the future of the Upper Arkansas River basin. A community poll commissioned by LCOSI indicated 91% support among community members for acquisition of lands along the Arkansas River to be preserved as open space.
In total, LCOSI partners acquired 8000 acres of land by 2006, including the Hayden Ranch, and placed them under an Ecosystem Management Plan, guaranteeing perpetual management as open space.
The Hayden Meadows Reservoir and its associated recreation area and multi-use trails were constructed on the ranch site in the early 2000s, while Colorado Mountain College (CMC) and Colorado Preservation Inc. (CPI) cooperated on a plan to preserve the historic homestead. Under this plan, the City of Aurora agreed to partition a 35-acre parcel encompassing 16 historic structures on the ranch for donation to CPI. Augmented by historical analysis produced by LCOSI, CPI successfully applied for recognition of the Homestead in the State and National Registers of Historic Places.
Utilizing a $270,000 grant from the Colorado Historic Fund, CPI worked to stabilize the major structures on the ranch. Following these early successes, over half a million dollars of additional grant funding were awarded to continue their preservation work. In 2008, ownership of the Homestead property was transferred to CMC, which utilizes the Homestead as an experiential campus in several programs.