I grew up at Star Ranch, a Young Life summer camp dedicated to saving teenagers’ souls. The Ranch, previously a tuberculosis sanitarium, functioned as an evangelical camp from 1949 until the mid 1970’s, when it was sold to International Students, Inc., which served a similar purpose except directed at foreign exchange students who were far from home and vulnerable. The property fell into decline, was divided into two halves, and finally bought by Nichols and Comito for a gated community development that they called “Historic Star Ranch.” Here are a few photos of the Ranch, before and after.
First, the “house” in which I grew up. The downstairs is the Dining Hall, which fed about 150 people every meal. For several years, we lived in the upstairs, but only the right half. Later, we got the whole upper story. And, below, after Nichols and Comito prepared the grounds for Historic Star Ranch.
“The Lodge,” as we knew it, had two huge rooms, one a recreation room for ping pong and pool, and the other a “library” for meetings. Then and now. In the bottom photo, the Lodge footprint is in the middle ground, right. The rock pile on the left is the rubble, awaiting the bulldozer.
The only historic aspect of this is the destruction of every detail that characterized Star Ranch. The only detail they were unable to destroy was this tiny grave, protected by State law, with a flat headstone that seems to read, “Daughter of G. and Ida Louma / Adopted dau. of S. & Phebe Briggs. / Died / Oct. 1, 1872 / Aged 7 Years / She being dead, yet spiritual.”
This old shed stood next to the head stone, and they had trouble destroying it without disturbing the grave site.
When Nichols and Comito finished bulldozing every structure on the Ranch grounds, except this stone shed, they invited my sister and me to come up to reminisce about our lives at the Ranch. They showed us the rubble fields where the main buildings once stood. They asked about our lives there. It was the single most insensitive act I’ve experienced, to ask people to identify the ruins of their home. “So, where exactly was your home?”
mountainbreakfast 
Thank you for this post Sam! I deliver kids up in this area every day and often think about your stories and wonder where exactly the ranch was and where the huge boulder you & your brother rolled down the mountain landed. Interesting point about their obliteration of the old ranch. Probably some legal advice about removing hazards…
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I’ll post another photo of a tiny shed that stood next to the grave site. They had trouble tearing it down without disturbing the grave. Oddest thing, they invited my sister and me up to view the wreckage, to try to identify where our home used to be, to show us the heaps of rubble where we used to play. Why did they need to do this? It was one of the most bizarre days of my life.
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Hello Samuel… I was a Young Life camper at Star Ranch in 1969 and 1970. I loved every minute of my time there!
I visited Colorado Springs in 1994 and was able to see some of the buildings and giant boulders.
I visited recently and could not see anything familiar.
Would be delighted to converse with you further if that is okay with you. I will return in October for some hiking. I might explore Cheyenne Mountain again.
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I’m here most of the time. Not sure about October, though, since I have a grandchild in Australia, and they’re begging me to come down under. There is literally nothing at all left of Star Ranch. It reminds me of the country & western song called, “The Place Where You Come From Is Gone.”
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Samuel, Thank you so much for replying! I totally understand you visiting grandkids in Austrailia. I am sorry if we will miss you when I visit Colorado Springs mid-October.
But I would like to continue talking about Star Ranch and sharing some wonderful photos with you. I will try to send them to your email. All the best, Suz
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So! My dad worked in the ISI administration at Star ranch from 70 to 74. My mom managed the kitchen and the meals throughout out the Summers and often during the rest of the year. My younger sister and I spent roughly half the summer staying up there running around, not exactly playing pool but knocking the balls around. Same with ping pong. A huge fireplace! There was a gift shop (between the library and the rec room? Perhaps another building to the east). We remember some of the massive rocks in the center, their size and how they felt and how much fun it was to climb around on them.
If I remember right, my mom stayed above the dining hall to the north (left), and whoever was the guest speaker that week stayed on the south side above. I can hear the wood screen doors bouncing shut behind us as we ran out.
We never saw the pool with water in it except for puddles which drew a fair share of dragonflies, sweet bees, frogs and garter snakes. The pool had a little building next to it that was once a dressing room with a rusty non-functioning toilet. The many bunk houses; of which we had free reign when camps weren’t being held, the administration building, what was once a corral with split rail fencing around it to the left as you drove through the entrance. The sign as you pulled off of 115 that said “Star Ranch three country miles”.
We lived near Chelton and Constitution.
What a wonderfully awesome place.
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Samuel, guess I was hoping you would post what years you were there.
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We lived there from about 1949 to about 1966 or 1967. The magic of those years for me was that during the summer I was thrilled by the crowds of interesting people from all over the country, and in the fall, the silence of the place just overwhelmed me. It was there that I picked up my deep interest in the natural sciences, and prepared myself for a long career teaching Biology.
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I attended a Young Life camp at Star Ranch the summer of 1969, the end of my junior year in high school. It was a wonderful experience for me and I have such fond memories of that time in my life. I am so sorry to hear that the buildings were bulldozed and are gone. It was a wonderful camp!❤️
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