The Nature Place History

The vision for the Colorado Outdoor Education Center was created in 1948 when two young enthusiastic teachers and naturalists purchased 480 acres of land to build a summer camp for boys. Over the next 60 years the Sanborns’ visions of using nature to help educate youth and adults grew into three main programs and facilities: The Nature Place, Sanborn Western Camps and High Trails Outdoor Education Center. These divisions of COEC share 6,000 acres of open pine forest and aspen grooves, which is adjacent to 40,000 acres of National Forest and the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument land.

The Nature Place was built in the late 1970’s as an adult nature retreat and training center. It includes the Central Lodge, Sportsplex, four conference rooms and fifty guest suites. The Nature Place hosts a wide variety of organizations for conferences and retreats while providing training and development programs to enhance the objectives of each organization. During the summer The Nature Place also provides programs for several natural history groups and many family reunions.