Enos Mills Cabin in Estes Park Colorado

Enos Mills built a simple cabin in Estes Park, Colorado in 1885. Today it is home to a museum dedicated to Enos himself. Enos is known to many as the father of Rocky Mountain National Park. As a naturalist, an adventurer, an author, a photographer, and a conservationist, Enos Mills is celebrated for his achievements in this historical and quaint museum.

Enos Mills was born on April 22, 1870 and grew up on his parent's farm in Kansas. He was thin and weak as a child, constantly battling sickness, but he still loved the great outdoors. His many siblings helped tutor him through the 8th grade, at which point his doctor told him he would not live to be much older. While growing up, his mother told him many stories of her honeymoon with is father in Colorado. At 13, he and his parents decided he may get better if he moved to Colorado to live with other family members. He worked in a Kansas City bakery just long enough to be able to buy a train ticket to Denver, and then on to Greeley to see his sister. He finally made his way to Estes Park, to visit an aunt and uncle who had homesteaded right under Long's Peak. Carlyle, his cousin, worked as a climbing guide on the peak. After Enos' first assent on Long's Peak in 1885, he knew that he had found his new home. Enos built a simple, yet modern for the times, cabin across the valley. He spent most summers in the cabin, exploring the mountains of what is now Rocky Mountain National Park. His winters were spent in the mines in Butte, Montana.

Enos loved to travel, to see the many lands he did not know. In 1889, he traveled to San Francisco, where he coincidently met John Muir while walking along the beach. John Muir and Enos shared many similar values and ideas. After spending some time with John, Enos was inspired to pursue his conservation interests by writing about his many adventures and ideas. They were friends forever. Encouraged by John Muir, Enos found his own conservation niche in the Rockies. He lobbied congress for six years to recognize the importance of preserving wildlife and natural scenery in the area.

The Enos Mills Cabin Museum is open from 11am to 4pm, Mondays and Tuesdays only, in the summer months. It is open in the winter by appointment. The cabin is located eight miles south of Estes Park and ten miles north of Allens park, located by a small museum sign. The museum takes about an hour and a half to explore.

For more information call the Enos Mills Museum & Gallery at 970-586-4706.