Ninety Years in the Nude: Mountain Air Ranch Celebrates Anniversary

"Social nudity, or family nudity," insists Mountain Air Ranch Manager Chris May, "is all about being comfortable in your own skin. When it comes to our members, we don't know who's rich or who's poor, or who's got this job or that life. We don't judge by those things. And that's the most important thing about Mountain Air Ranch. It's who we are on the inside."

Which, apparently, is easier to see when you're not focusing on what's on the outside. Or such is the nudist philosophy at Colorado's only family nudist resort, the second oldest of its kind in North America: Mountain Air Ranch, or MAR, as it's affectionately known by members. The site covers 150 acres nestled in the foothills 25 minutes southwest of Denver, technically in Littleton, surrounded by breathtaking natural beauty and wildlife, and boasting amenities including a newly updated pool, hot tub and sauna; a weekend restaurant and ice cream parlor; paddle tennis; bocce; ten miles of hiking; lodging, tenting and rental RV spots, and more — all meant to be experienced au naturel.
Over the weekend of Friday, July 11, to Sunday, July 13, Mountain Air Ranch, affiliated with the American Association for Nude Recreation, will celebrate its 90th anniversary as part of National Nude Weekend. Events are scheduled throughout the weekend, including participation in the National Nude Skinny Dip, a spectacular Saturday evening drone light show, nude pool parties, body painting, musical events and special activities planned for the kids and the young at heart. For more information on the event, see the MAR website.

"Mountain Air has always had a European view of nudism," says May. "It's all about being safe in your own environment. It's zero about sex. I mean, people there aren't prudes, but we're able to separate the two things."

MAR dates back to 1935, when John and Alice Garrison founded what was then called the Colorado Sunshine Club on 160 acres of unimproved land. The Garrisons had just come from the unpleasant experience of being arrested, along with 22 other CSC members who were then participating in nudism in an ad-hoc manner, at various homes and properties of those in the group. "It was a big brouhaha," May says.

Following the raid, which caught up not only John Garrison — then a well-known former official of the Anti-Saloon League and a typesetter for the Rocky Mountain News — but also a minister and other prominent Denver citizens. The Garrisons sold their Denver home and bought the 160 acres to the southwest for $8,000. As for the charges against the group, most were dropped. The Garrisons and one other member paid a small fine.

It wouldn't be until summer of 1937 that the CSC clubhouse would open for business — and even then, the facilities were pretty limited. Aside from the clubhouse itself — still in use today as the property's gatehouse — there was a dirt volleyball court, a metal tank for cold-water baths...and not much more. Still, the CSC membership started with around twenty people joining up, and by about a decade later, that number had quintupled and kept growing.
"From those early days they used to interview prospective members in their own homes to make sure they were suitable, that they were a good match," May says. "Children have always been welcome with their parents; it's always been a family nudist resort." Even today, one of the written rules of MAR is that members only refer to each other by first name and first initial of their last name.

It's not about secrecy, May says, but about privacy. "Not everybody understands what we do. Nudism used to be taboo, but that's changing. But it used to be true that if you were, say, the Dean of Students someplace, and your name was on a public list of our members, that could jeopardize your job. That's why we've always protected the anonymity of our members, and we still do, just to make sure everyone feels protected."

From the 1940s into the '50s, the CSC grew little by little. Members began adding to the landscape by building small cabins on the land for them to stay in when they visited — some of these still stand today. John Garrison began to dream of installing a swimming pool — a vision that wouldn't come to fruition until the 1960s, after the property changed hands twice (officially being renamed Mountain Air Ranch in 1958), and the third owner, Jim Herndon, came into the picture.

Herndon was a successful small business owner and an avowed nudist, but because he was single, he had been denied membership in the CSC. In 1961, he had both the finances and the opportunity to buy it instead. Herndon did just that, and the fulfillment of John Garrison's swimming-pool dreams was first on his to-do list. The pool was a major undertaking. "We have it on good authority from people that were around to remember it," May smiles, "that at one point our swimming pool was just a pond." But a real concrete pool it eventually became, and a hot tub and sauna were added later on as well.

Other improvements came with growth during the 1970s: water and sewer lines were added to the cabins; camp sites with water and electric hookups were built, and later converted for use with RVs. A new three-story clubhouse, still in use today, boasted a full kitchen, a dining room and a massive dance floor. Membership grew, but so did challenges: a zoning issue led to a Colorado Supreme Court ruling against MAR, which had to vacate most of the trailers that had once dotted the landscape for use by members. In 1975, founder Alice Garrison passed away — she hadn't visited MAR since 1967, but her loss marked the end of an era for nudism not only in Colorado, but the U.S. And in 1978, a fire came dangerously close to the property.

Today, membership in MAR shows no sign of flagging. Current membership stands at over 550, according to May. "The average age of our members has gone from the upper 60s to the lower 50s," says May. "We're seeing a nice influx of younger families, which means we have the opportunity for a lot more family events. It's a magical place, and a beautiful group of people."

May mentions that there is one member who's like a living historian for MAR. "He's in his 70s, and his parents brought him to Mountain Air when he was a child," she says. "Then he came back as a grown-up when he returned from Vietnam, and has been here ever since. It's really cool. He's still just like the rest of us, wants to have fun and be relaxed."

Which is still what Mountain Air Ranch is all about, now going on a century.

Mountain Air Ranch, 9006 South Mica Mine Gulch Road in Littleton, is celebrating its 90th anniversary over the weekend of July 11-13. For information on its operation and offerings year-round, see the MAR website.