Camp Hale National Monument

Designated A National Monument In 2022. The High Valley At 9,200 Feet Where The 10th Mountain Division Trained For Mountain Warfare Between 1942 And 1945, And Whose Veterans Went On To Build Much Of The American Ski Industry. · Leadville, Colorado

Between 1942 and 1945 fifteen thousand American soldiers learned to fight on skis in this valley at nine thousand two hundred feet, in conditions deliberately chosen to be worse than anything they would meet in Italy. The camp held a thousand buildings and a town's worth of infrastructure, and the men who trained here fought in the Apennines and then came home and built the American ski industry - Vail, Aspen operations, ski schools and equipment companies trace back to the 10th Mountain Division. Later the CIA quietly used the same valley to train Tibetan resistance fighters. Almost nothing stands now: concrete foundations in the grass, the straightened Eagle River, and the mountains the whole thing was about. It became a national monument in 2022, which means the interpretation is still being built. Unexploded ordnance remains in parts of the former training area, which is a real constraint rather than a formality, and the closure signs are there to be obeyed.

US Highway 24, Pando, Leadville, Colorado, 80461, United States

Open as public land, but PRACTICALLY SEASONAL - the valley sits at 9,200 feet and is under deep snow for much of the year, with US 24 open but side roads and trails closed. There is no visitor centre and facilities are minimal; THE MONUMENT WAS ONLY DESIGNATED IN 2022 and interpretation is still being developed. UNEXPLODED ORDNANCE REMAINS A REAL HAZARD in parts of the former training area - stay on established roads and trails and obey all posted closures. There is no fee.

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