History of RMV
Rocky Mountain Village has been welcoming campers to the mountains since 1951, growing from 36 kids in a single summer session to a 220-acre village that serves over 300 campers a year. Here's the story so far.
Easterseals Colorado was founded in 1926, and for its first few decades focused on services closer to Denver. That changed in 1935, when Stonehenge Lodge went up in Empire, a modest, 600-square-foot building built without much thought for accessibility, because the idea of a camp designed around it didn't really exist yet.
RMV as a camp began in earnest in 1951, when Easterseals Colorado ran its first summer session here with 36 campers. What started as one week in the mountains grew, year over year, into the camp it is today: nine week-long summer sessions, fall and winter respite weekends, and a fully accessible 220-acre village with 14 different adaptive activities.
Built, one lodge at a time
A village that kept growing
Almost everything standing at RMV today replaced something smaller, older, or less accessible than what came before it.
Stonehenge Lodge
A 600 sq ft lodge goes up in Empire, the first building on what would become the RMV campus.
First camp season
Easterseals Colorado runs RMV's first summer session: one week, 36 campers. It's the start of what's now 75 straight years of camp.
Civitan Village cabins
The Homebuilder’s Association builds six of the seven camper cabins that still house campers today.
Sports court
RMV adds a dedicated sports court for adapted ball games and court sports.
Friendship Lodge
A new 7,500 sq ft, 32-bed, fully accessible lodge opens, replacing the original Stonehenge Lodge and giving campers and groups a modern place to stay.
Frontier Lodge and first endowment
The retired Stonehenge Lodge is renovated into staff housing, storage, and an updated arts and crafts space. The same year, RMV establishes its first philanthropic endowment to help secure camp's future.
Still growing
RMV today.
Longtime friends of camp have shaped RMV too. American Furniture Warehouse’s Jake Jabs has visited camp for years and lent his name to the Jake Jabs Amphitheater, where campers and staff still gather for campfires and performances. Chelsea’s Boardwalk later opened up the trails to campers with mobility challenges, carrying that same idea of building access into everything RMV adds.
From 36 campers in 1951 to over 300 served every year today, plus 2,000+ off-season visitors on retreats and rentals, RMV has kept the same idea for 75 years: a place in the mountains with no barriers to who gets to enjoy it.
From the archives
A look back
