The mountain area’s newspaper since 1958
VOLUME 66 | ISSUE 8
WEEK OF JANUARY 9, 2025
$2
So long to the shop atop the mountain
FRIDGID FUN
Customers, concessionaires bid farewell to gift shop at the Buffalo Bill Museum amid indefinite closure
Evergreen’s annual lake plunge returns to kick off the new year P2
BY CORINNE WESTEMAN CWESTEMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
PJ Holtz from Evergreen took on his first open swim of the year in his Colorado-branded triathlete gear. PHOTO BY TIM WEIGHART
VOICES: 10 | LIFE: 12 | LIFESTYLES: 15 | PUZZLES: 23
Over the decades, the gift shop and café at the Buffalo Bill Museum & Gravesite has been a haven for tourists and locals alike. It was a quiet spot to relax and reflect, to sip coffee or hot chocolate while enjoying the views of Denver and the nearby foothills. It was a welcome relief for those who desperately needed some food or indoor bathrooms. It was also a fun spot to grab souvenirs so visitors could fondly remember their trip to Lookout Mountain. It was, ultimately, a place of memories — good and bad, big and small, significant and fleeting. Now, that haven is closed indefinitely. The Pahaska Tepee building, which housed the gift shop and café, closed at end of day Dec. 31. It was built in 1921 and has been run by the same family of concessionaires since 1956. Denver Mountain Parks, which owns the site, plans to assess Pahaska Tepee’s condition and explore future programming opportunities for it. Denver Parks & Recreation officials have not said what those opportunities might be or when the building will reopen, whether on an interim basis or a permanent one, but encouraged people to check its website for updates. In the meantime, the museum and gravesite will remain open with its usual hours. Bill Carle and his nephew Dustin Day said their family has been running the Buffalo Bill Museum gift shop for five generations, since Carle’s grandma answered Denver Mountain Parks’ request for proposals in 1956. By 2024, their family members had met SEE GIFT SHOP, P6
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