Thenaturalmedic Adventures
Hello there, and thanks so much for joining us here! You are probably wondering what this podcast is all about? In this podcast, we will talk about all sorts of outdoor adventures, but primarily, for now, we will focus on hiking and backpacking. No other outdoor adventure is so accessible to so many people! So please join us as we talk about how to hike/backpack and learn how to hike any length trail from your local neighborhood parks to those long trails such as the Appalachian and others worldwide! Remember... "in every walk with nature; one receives far more than he seeks... - John Muir " See you on the trail!
Thenaturalmedic Adventures
Detour to a Ghost Resort: When Plan B Becomes the Adventure
Note: Audio Only, See YouTube for Video Version
Sometimes the best adventures come from unexpected detours. When bad weather derailed my plans to summit Mount Elbert, I discovered the hidden gem of Interlaken Trail near Leadville, Colorado – a 5-mile journey that transports hikers through time to a preserved "ghost resort" nestled along Twin Lakes.
The trail offers stunning views of Mount Elbert (Colorado's highest peak) before arriving at the historic Interlaken resort complex. The crown jewel is the Dexter Cabin, an impressive Victorian-era house complete with multiple bedrooms, sitting areas, and a distinctive cupola offering 360-degree views of the surrounding mountains and lakes. Walking through its rooms, you can almost feel the presence of the wealthy visitors who once vacationed here during Colorado's mining boom.
Founded in 1879 by Mr. Staley and later purchased by Mr. Dexter, this resort once represented mountain luxury at its finest. Guests enjoyed steamboat rides on Twin Lakes, billiards, and various outdoor activities on the expansive grounds. The resort's decline came with Mr. Dexter's death in 1899, but its buildings have been remarkably preserved. In the 1970s, the Bureau of Reclamation saved the structures by moving them to higher ground when developing Twin Lakes as a water storage reservoir – the original foundations now lie somewhere beneath the water's surface.
Beyond the main cabin, the site includes barns, bathhouses (surprisingly equipped with leather seats), and smaller outbuildings that help complete the picture of this once-bustling resort. The entire hike takes about three hours round trip, making it perfect for history enthusiasts and outdoor lovers alike who want to experience a fascinating piece of Colorado's past.
Give this video a thumbs up if you enjoyed exploring this hidden historical treasure with me, and subscribe to join more adventures where the unexpected often becomes the highlight of the journey!
Hey, it's the Natural Medic Out exploring some trails near Leadville, colorado, doing the Interlaken Trail today. I was planning on doing Elbert but the weather was not the best to do that today, so save it for another day. This trail is going to take us down to an old resort facility. It's kind of a ghost resort, I guess, and we'll go check that out. Hope you'll join me as we go down to the interlaken here Leadville call it, when you're hiking along the Twin Lakes here these are glaciated lakes from when there were glaciers in this part of what is now Colorado Mountain. Straight out here that's Elbert, highest peak in Colorado, second highest peak in all of the lower 48 states, getting closer to the Interlaken area. So stay with me. Made it to the Interlaken site. There is an historic cabin here. I really wouldn't call it a cabin, though it's more like a regular house. Almost see the little pointy roof things. I'm not sure what the technical term is. There's the chimney. I'm up in the topmost portion, walked in on this trail straight over here to get here. There's a number of folks on the front porch enjoying their lunch, which is perfectly fine, but I didn't film that part because I didn't think they would consent to being on camera, but wouldn't this be cool to live out here and just look in this cupola up here? Hey, do me a favor If you're liking this video, give it a thumbs up so it gets out to more people, and if you're listening on the podcast, send me me a message. Let me know what you're thinking about. Thanks, this is like a little windowed place. Up here. You can look out and see elbert and massive in the distance, a beautiful lake. There's some other buildings over there, which is also part of this historic site. The forest service did have to work with pure reclamation and lake county colorado history to move these buildings because they were going to get flooded, created this lake, or I guess they modified the lake. The lake was already here, just modified for larger capacity. But wow, what a cool spot.
Speaker 1:On the second floor of this cabin looks like a space room where the master bedroom was a couple of little closets and then another room over here. This is how you would get up and down from the cupola. Up top you have this room here. There's maybe the master bedroom, beautiful windows every direction. Over here you have other bedrooms Looking out the back, another bedroom here, lots of places to hang things A little closet here. Yeah, just a closet Little sitting area right there. And this goes down to the first floor. Let's go check it out. Right at the base of the stairs looks like a bathtub with a lavatory. That was probably where the toilet was over there, so that's pretty crazy. There's a porch that goes around the entire building, kitchen or dining area with a stove. Here's another room here, which probably was the kitchen, if you see from the vent up there, and then another room over here on the back side. Wow, there were still folks sitting outside whenever I came out of the Dexter cabin.
Speaker 1:Well, look at this stuff. It's like a barn, some other small little houses it says Interlaken over there, maybe like a big lodge. There's some corrals or livestock pens over there. Wow, so neat. So I'm standing here looking at these weathered buildings. This appears to be more of a barn. These over here are actually bathrooms. They had six seats in there with leather seats.
Speaker 1:This place kind of making a rustic place, but it wasn't really all that rustic. They had lots of activities here at the Interlaken really all that rustic. We had lots of activities here at the Interlaken. Originally it was a different hotel started by Mr Staley in 1879. You had all these areas out here under bluegrass you could do all kinds of activities, riding boats out here in the lake. Some people rowed a steamboat, some people rowed the rowboats. So it's very interesting as to how things worked out.
Speaker 1:Because of the Leadville boom there was all kinds of things that were going on. They had a billiard hall, they had a pavilion. Unfortunately the man who bought it from Mr Staley, mr Dexter. We saw his cabin earlier. There were a number of problems. In 1897, the Twin Lakes Reservoir Company, the Lower Lake, knocked out the road access to a lot of areas. They had to rebuild the road. Dexter died in May of 1899, and pretty much he died with the resort.
Speaker 1:So here's the exterior of the Dexter cabin. Wrap around porch you can see the cupola. I was in earlier all the way at the top. What a nice, lovely view of the surrounding forest and mountains. The Dexter cabin had been sitting here and kind of in disuse for a long time. In the early 1970s the Bureau of Reclamation was turning this into a storage reservoir in the lakes nearby and they put this house on the National Register, actually had to move it 150 feet to higher ground on the new foundation. Anything that was original was now underwater.
Speaker 1:Okay, so I made it back. Here's the trailhead. That was about five and four hundredths of a mile round. Trip Took just under three hours 20 minutes. Hope you enjoyed your little history lesson. What a nice spot to be in. If you like this video, make sure to give it a thumbs up. Think about subscribing to the channel if you want to see more content like this. Let me know any comments, questions you might have below, and I will leave you with this nice view from the parking lot. See you on the trail, everybody.
