History of the UPCC

The Ute Pass Cultural Center is named after the access point the Ute people used to travel between the prairies and the mountains. The pass has developed significantly throughout the past two centuries. The mid-nineteenth century used it as a wagon trail for miners and those moving West. The following change came with the Midland Railroad starting in 1888. This brought tourism and the commerce needed to incorporate Woodland Park as a permanent town. At the turn of the century, hotels, casinos, sawmills, and sanitariums developed, as well as dude ranches and local rodeos. Several versions of the rodeos existed, including one every Sunday at the Wildhorn Triple B. Paradise Ranch on the eastern edge of town. The locals would compete against the ranch wranglers. Find more details on the storied history of Ute Pass on the Ute Pass Historical Society’s website.

While the final remnants of the rodeos were razed in the early twenty-first century, the memory lives on with the timeline mural on the East side of UPCC. Local muralist Lois Rosio Sprague took four months to paint 145 feet, showcasing the Ute chief, the flower picking pioneers, rodeo wranglers, and including several faces of local Woodland Park residents. See photos of the process HERE - https://www.loisrosiosprague.com/murals

Originally used as a gymnasium and classrooms for the Woodland Park School District, Ute Pass Cultural Center was built in 1936. The building was used as the elementary school and the middle school until it closed in 1988