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For decades, Camp Kotami introduced young Coloradans to the mountains. Operated by the Camp Fire Girls (now simply Camp Fire) from the 1960s through the mid-1980s, the 378-acre property in the foothills near Conifer invited little explorers to spend the summer wading in the creek, playing in the meadows, and roasting s’mores around the campfire. Then it almost vanished underwater: Denver Water purchased the land in 1988, planning to flood it to create a massive, $1-billion dam, but that boondoggle was scuttled after environmental activists put up a fight and the Environmental Protection Agency vetoed the proposal.
Now, after nearly 40 years off the market, Camp Kotami is looking for its next chapter.
Listed at $5.095 million, the property represents a rare find in the Front Range foothills: a contiguous, almost square parcel with usable terrain from edge to edge. Unlike many large-acreage listings in the mountains, which often cling to steep slopes or span inaccessible ridgelines, Camp Kotami sprawls across rolling land with just 400 feet of elevation change between its lowest and highest points. A side-by-side or ATV can reach nearly every corner.
“It’s pretty rare to find acreage of this size this close to Denver,” said listing agent Nick Melzer of Compass. “While there are listings from time to time that are this size or even larger, they’re very rarely this usable.”
Last Resort Creek winds through the land, and ponderosa pines blanket the hillsides. Natural springs bubble up throughout the acreage. Massive rock formations look like the smooth and domed kind that mountain bikers seek in Moab.
Two lodge buildings, each with vaulted ceilings and exposed timber, remain from the Camp Fire Girls era. Commercial kitchens still have gas ranges, stainless steel vent hoods, and prep islands built to feed crowds. The structures need work, certainly. But Melzer believes renovation makes more sense than demolition.
“I think it will be quicker and cheaper to fix one of these than to build something new,” he said. “They’re not teardowns.”
Both buildings have electricity and private road access. A buyer would need to drill a new well and upgrade the septic system, but the infrastructure for transformation is in place. Camp Kotami could go to a developer who might parcel off the land, but Melzer said he thinks the most likely outcome will be for it to end up as a private retreat. As the Denver Post noted last year, fewer retreats these days are owned by churches and nonprofits, likely due at least in part to the steep operational costs.
The property sits about 45 minutes from Denver’s west side, 25 minutes from the nearest grocery store in Conifer, and minutes from the North Fork of the South Platte River. Cathedral Spires, a dramatic rock formation in nearby Jefferson County Open Space, is a 12-minute drive away.
Zoned for limited agricultural, ranching, and rural businesses, the land could theoretically be subdivided into 10-acre parcels, though Melzer sees the whole as more valuable than its parts. Since the listing went live in October, interest has come from all directions: buyers eyeing retreat centers, families envisioning compounds, and outdoor enthusiasts seeking private recreational land. The property offers landowner preference points for hunting permits, and its network of trails could support everything from mountain biking to ATV riding to simple wandering.
“The uses are limited only by your imagination,” Melzer says.
The Camp Kotami property sits at 22511 Resort Creek Rd., Conifer, CO and is currently listed by Compass for $5.095 million.
