We love hosting meditation and movement retreats and have been doing so for more than twenty years — Holly as a professor of Buddhism at the University of Colorado Boulder, Rick as a dancer/choreographer and, more recently, a Buddhist chaplain.
Holly cooked at a retreat center in northern Colorado and B&B in Summit County before doing her MA at Naropa and PhD at Harvard. Rick led a dance company in New York City, then taught at the Arts Institute in Barcelona and at Western Washington University in Bellingham.
As educators and longtime meditators, we held the inspiration to start our own retreat center for years. In 2022, we set off on a pilgrimage through southern Colorado and northern New Mexico, exploring the majestic landscapes and visiting existing retreat centers.
For two years, we traversed the region looking for land and, on every road trip, we stopped for the night at hot springs outside Buena Vista. As we grew more fond of BV, we thought: why don’t we look for a place here?
That’s when we stumbled on the former Elk Mountain Ranch, run by Tom and Sue Murphy as a dude ranch for more than thirty years. They had sold it to a couple from Nebraska, who turned it into lodging under the name Rocky Mountain Cabins for two years and then moved on.
It was just what we were looking for — a nested campus surrounded by national forest, hiking trails, and mountain vistas. We were fortunate to acquire the property at auction in October 2024. After a summer of interest from Wyoming and Montana ranchers, by fall we were the only bidders. So it was meant to be!
We are both humbled and daunted by the task of stewarding this land and heritage property. Only through the help of many friends, old and new, with skills in various trades have we been able to tackle the renovation process. After one more summer of construction, we hope to open to the general public in June of 2027.
Our aspiration is to create affordable retreats for young adults and diverse constituencies. The opportunity to engage in a retreat, whether meditation, contemplative movement, or yoga, can be transformative, even life-changing.
Aspen Ridge Retreat offers a rustic and immersive experience as a respite from the stress and chaos of everyday life. We endeavor to make accessible the opportunity to settle the mind, open the heart, and connect to community and land.
We welcome you to join one of our retreats in the near future. Or, if you’d like to hold a retreat or gathering here, please reach out! We’re delighted to offer our space for special events and weekend stays in between retreats at standard rates for the area. Please join us on this magical land to enjoy a sanctuary in nature!
