Woodland Park, CO: 5 ways this town is historically significant and a Fun Place to Visit!
February 2024: As a highway corridor to the Rocky Mountains, we have driven through Woodland Park (pop.7,920*) many times. However, we recently stopped to explore the town with the motto ‘The City Above the Clouds’, derived from its 8,400-feet elevation. It is also home to the popular Dinosaur Resource Center Museum. We found a rich history in the historic Main Street shops, restaurants, museums and park!
Woodland Park is located along Hwy 24 on the far east side of Teller County. It is considered part of the Colorado Springs Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Woodland Park – A Brief History
An ancient history factoid relevant to Woodland Park, is that all of Colorado was once covered by a warm shallow sea that was home to creatures like brachiopods, trilobites, Plesiosaurs and Stegosaurus (state dinosaur of Colorado) during the age of the dinosaurs. Because of this, Colorado has a rich geological history of dinosaur fossils.
The Native Americans knew the area as the Ute Trail, which runs along the north side of Pikes Peak is believed to have first been a buffalo trail that delivered buffalo from the “milder winter pastures of the eastern plains” to the “lush, grassy” meadows of South Park, Colorado during the summer months.
The town of Woodland Park is named after the large amount of pine and spruce trees on the site. Like so many Rocky Mountain towns, it was a major destination along the Colorado Midland Railway which supported the nearby Cripple Creek mining industry. Woodland Park was incorporated in the summer of 1891.
Wood from local forests was harvested and produced into lumber and railroad ties by the town’s five sawmills. As a result of such industrious logging, Pike National Forest was established to help preserve the forests.
In the early 1900s, the economy turned to cattle ranching and rodeo. In 1932 a new road was built that better accommodated automotive vehicles. Ute Pass Trail was eventually replaced by U.S. Highway 24, a four-lane highway. Tourism began to be a major economic force, attracted to the dude ranches and the rodeo culture, which grew to feature baseball games, parades and afternoon dances. Prohibition saw large amounts of gambling and illegal liquor propagated by local casinos, eventually shut down by Federal intervention.
Today the history of the area is preserved and shared by the Ute Pass Historical Society, as well as in the downtown building still used to house a variety of businesses.
5 Ways that Woodland Park features its history during a fun visit!
1. Pikes Peak Museum – Ute Pass History Park
My first stop was to the Ute Pass Historical Society, near the Woodland Park branch of the Rampart Library District. The Pikes Peak Museum is a group of six historic buildings. Each building display tell the story of Ute Pass from the days of the nomadic Utes to the early settlers who founded our local communities. My thanks to Donna for her time to take me on a fascinating tour of life during the Midland train era! She shared many interesting stories from colorful locals from the past. If you don’t get the chance to tour the buildings, it is still worth a visit to see the buildings and a beautiful metal stagecoach and horse statue, created by a local artist.
2. Historic Downtown – Fun food, drink and outdoor community space
From the Museum complex, I walked to the businesses along the historic Main Street (I24). There are 3 local coffee shops! And BierWerks brewery. And many other food options with beautiful outdoor spaces to admire the views.
- Joanie’s Deli and Bakery – Google Maps – outdoor seating with a mountain view!
- Thai Good Eats – Google Maps outdoor seating with a mountain view!
- Righteous Grounds Coffee Roasters – Google Maps – giant home made chocolate chip cookies and in-house roasted coffee!
- 110 Reserve – Google Maps – I loved their outdoor courtyard with mountain views! Good looking menu.
- Java Haus CO – Google Maps – lots of great space for a meet-up and terrific coffee
- Belmont Whiskey House – Google Maps
- Mountain View Froyo and Smoothie Cafe – Google Maps – beautiful history timeline mural on outside of the building!
- The Donut Mill – Google Maps
- CAFE LEO – Google Maps – another good looking coffee shop with both indoor and outdoor patio seating
- BierWerks – Google Maps – serving German style lagers and ales as well as Colorado made sausage, Wisconsin cheese, warm pretzels and charcuterie items
3. Historic downtown – Fun shopping
The downtown buildings have historic tags on them to share information about their past. Today they house a wide variety of businesses. If (like us) you appreciate historic downtowns, check out this online Woodland Park Historic Walking Tour Map to learn more about the history of the town’s buildings.
- Zebz OutFooter – Google Maps
- Colorado GearLab – Google Maps
- Woodland Square Vintage Market – Google Maps – good google reviews!
- Miss Priss Clothing Boutique – Google Maps – good google reviews!
- Cowhand – Google Maps – i stopped in this store; terrific collection of Wester wear!
4. Memorial Park – Summer Farmers Market, a playground, a fishing lake and picnic shelters
My visit was during a beautiful sunny February day and quite a few families with small children were taking advantage of the mild temperatures to play at the Memorial Park playground. The park also features a large lake, stocked with fish in the summer. Woodland Park is a Purple Heart Community and has a lovely war memorial area. It also has an Ampitheater for outdoor entertainment.
Online research indicated that Memorial Park is the home of a weekly Farmers Market – Fridays 8am-1pm during the Spring-Summer-Fall months.
5. Dinosaur Resource Center
Although I didn’t stop by this particular visit, I have been to the Dinosaur Resource Center in the past. It is an amazing place and worth checking out! It is conveniently located next to the historic downtown. You can explore the museum, then walk downtown for lunch and shopping!
More to Explore!
On-line research indicates there are a variety of supportive organizations at work to keep the heritage of Woodland Park available for everyone, and as an economic catalyst.
- Woodland Park Chamber of Commerce – serves as a catalyst to promote the prosperity of our business community through promotional, networking, marketing, educational and advocacy opportunities.
- Downtown Development Authority – a Woodland Park city committee with the following objectives
- promote the safety, prosperity, security and general welfare of the District and its inhabitants
- prevent deterioration of property values and structures within the District
- prevent growth of blighted areas within the district
- assist the City of Woodland Park in the development, redevelopment and planning of the economic and physical restoration and growth of the District
- improve the overall appearance, condition and function of the District
- encourage a variety of uses
- sustain and improve the economic vitality of the District
- relieve traffic congestion
- encourage pedestrian traffic and security in the District
- Historic Preservation Committee – a Woodland Park city committee that reviews nominations for local historic landmarks and make recommendations to the City Council.
