“A MIRACLE BEYOND BELIEF”
In 1950, while serving on work crew at Silver Cliff, Cy Burress and Jerry Kirk would often hike up the mountain behind camp to read the Bible and pray. On one such trip they saw another camp directly above them, the Round-Up Lodge for Boys.
Jerry remembered what the sight of that camp did for them. “When Cy Burress and I saw the potential of that camp and knew how Young Life was in touch with thousands of kids, we said to ourselves, ‘What could God do through Young Life if we got Round-Up Lodge for Boys?’
“I said, ‘Let’s ask God to give it to Young Life,’ so we met at 6:30 each morning to pray.”
Not everyone, however, was convinced this was the right next move…
“They actually prayed Young Life would someday have that camp,” explained Bob Mitchell, who was their work crew boss that summer. “When we heard what those kids were doing, we counseled them to pray more appropriately and not ask God for stupid things like that – especially right after He’d given us Silver Cliff. It’s a wonder we didn’t ruin their prayer life. Instead they strengthened ours.”
Undeterred, Cy and Jerry continued to pray. Meanwhile, Young Life Founder Jim Rayburn was also aware of the ranch, and carried a passion for it that matched the boys’ prayers. At the end of the summer, Jim served as guest speaker at Round-Up Lodge’s banquet. Driving out of the camp that night, he confided to [his wife] Maxine, “Max, these folks don’t know it yet, but this place doesn’t belong to them anymore. I asked our Father for it this evening.”
In October, Ted Benson, one of Young Life’s founding board members, came across an ad in the back of The New Yorker magazine, which touted a half-million-dollar boys’ camp for sale “in the high Continental Divide country of Colorado…” Ted gave the ad to Jim as a joke, suggesting the two go in 50-50 on the price.
To Jim, however, it was no joke; it was in fact a confirmation from the Lord. While the ad never mentioned the camp’s name, Jim knew this had to be Round-Up Lodge. After some investigation, it was indeed confirmed to be the camp just up the mountain from Silver Cliff, now listed at an asking price of $350,000. Jim approached the board in January about the unbelievable opportunity which lay before them. They approved the purchase, as long as he could raise the money from foundations and donors (preferably new ones). Jim’s first meeting was with the owner of Round-Up Lodge, Dr. E. Alfred Marquard. As a result of their meeting, Marquard dropped the asking price down to $250,000.
Jim crisscrossed the country via train to find the funds, and “two months and many miracles later,” he raised the entire amount from nine donors. Later, he took staff up to the newly-named Frontier Ranch, where they dedicated it to the Lord. “We prayed in every building in that place,” said longtime staff, Roy Riviere. “We were overwhelmed with what God had given us!”
The two boys whose prayers helped get the ball rolling were blown away as well. “God is so gracious that he can use a bunch of clods like us,” Jerry said. “We really didn’t know what he was doing. But we were just beginning to believe he can do anything.
Frontier Ranch hosted its first campers a mere six months later, in July 1951. As Emile Cailliet wrote in his book, Young Life, “From beginning to end it was all ‘a miracle beyond belief.’”
Frontier Ranch Today
Since 1951, Frontier Ranch has been a special place where countless kids from all over the globe have encountered Jesus Christ. Would you believe that…
OVER THE COURSE OF SEVENTY YEARS, THIS CAMP HAS HOSTED ONE MILLION GUESTS?
It’s true, and since the selling of the previous two camps, Star Ranch in 1972 and Silver Cliff in 1983, Frontier Ranch now stands as Young Life’s oldest.
After the summer of 2021, in response to the decline in camping ministry and business demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Young Life made the strategic decision to scale back operations at Frontier Ranch. This pause allows us to address critical infrastructure upgrades and enhance both operational efficiency and the overall guest experience. Key improvements include updates to water collection and distribution systems, stormwater management, wastewater processing, kitchen facilities, electrical and fiber networks, fire suppression systems, pool and associated mechanical, safety systems, and select housing improvements. Several of these upgrades are required subject to state and local regulatory compliance.
This is why Young Life has launched a capital campaign for the restoration of our beloved Frontier Ranch. We need to cover the cost of these critical projects, so we can host the next million campers, and introduce them to the One who loves them the most.
