Aspenglen Amphitheater - Rocky Mountain National Park CO

City:: Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
Site Type:: Parks and Recreation, Amphitheaters and Bandshells
New Deal Agencies:: Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Conservation and Public Lands, Work Relief Programs, National Park Service (NPS)
Started:: 1938
Completed:: 1938
Quality of Information:: Very Good
Marked:: No
Site Survival:: Extant

Description

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was active in Rocky Mountain National Park throughout the New Deal era, 1933-42. Among the other works undertaken by CCC enrollees was the construction of three amphitheaters, at Aspenglen Campground, Moraine Park Museum and Glacier Basin campground. These were used for educational presentations by park rangers and staff.

The Aspenglen and Glacier Basin amphitheaters were built in 1938 (Brock, p. 43), as part of general upgrades to those campgrounds (Brock, p 41). The amphitheaters were designed by the National Park Service in Rustic Style and meant to blend into the landscape and surrounding trees. The one at Aspenglen has a stone stage with a wooden proscenium, with wooden benches arrayed up a gentle slope. There is a campfire circle beside the stage to provide light for evening presentations.

We do not know how much of the wood has been replaced over the years due to weathering.

There is a nearby restroom which could be CCC in origin, but we have no confirmation of that.

Source notes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moraine_Park_Museum_and_Amphitheater

Julia Brock, A History of the CCC in Rocky Mountain National Park. Report to the Rocky Mountain Nature Association and Rocky Mountain National Park, 2005. https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/rmnp/ccc.pdf

Site originally submitted by Richard Walker on August 14, 2022.
Additional contributions by Joan Greer.