Colorado’s newest backcountry hut is also its oldest, dating back to 1883
Historic preservation effort turns 19th-century mining office into hut sleeping six to 8 in stunning alpine basin
Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post
After spending five years transforming a ramshackle 140-year-old structure at the foot of a 13,000-foot pass into one of Colorado’s most unique backcountry huts, the moment of truth had arrived for Jeff Crane and partner Kate McCoy. A Park County building inspector was on site to give the historic preservation project a final lookover before signing the certificate of occupancy.
It had been their dream to turn what remained of the North London Mine Office, built in 1883, into a backcountry destination. They lined up historic preservation grants, determined to rehabilitate the building in a manner that was faithful to its original appearance. They defied skeptics who didn’t think it could be done.
And so, when the building inspector signed off on it just before Thanksgiving in 2023, Crane felt a flood of emotion.
“I called Kate, told her, ‘I got it,’ and we were both kind of in tears,” Crane said recently on a visit to the hut, 7 miles west of Alma near Fairplay. “It was five years, and people said, ‘You’ll never be able to do it.’ Or, ‘It’ll take 10 years or more,’ all sorts of reasons why it wasn’t going to happen. We did it, people love it, and we’re pretty happy about it.”
The hut, which sits adjacent to the remains of the historic North London Mill, had a soft opening last winter and is now available for reservations. Situated in a magnificent basin at 11,450 feet, it sleeps six to eight with hot and cold running water, a shower, a kitchen stocked with utensils, a flush toilet, solar electricity and WiFi from Starlink. There also is an old Victrola record player that belonged to McCoy’s grandmother — and it still works.
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