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​Every kid deserves to connect to nature


This remote yet accessible property offers students and teachers a rare chance to spend their days in revelry and quiet reflection and their nights under a blanket of undimmed stars. Children “plug in” to the sounds of Lost Trail Creek, the changing aspen leaves, and sunsets over the Ragged Mountains. ​
Chapin Wright Marble Basecamp gives kids a place to engage in team-building and personal discovery exercises such as rock climbing, ropes courses and trust walls, Leave No Trace wilderness ethics, journaling, storytelling by the campfire, and connecting to nature – and one another.

For more than 45 years, thousands of middle school children have listened to the nighttime forest, learned to backpack and camp, and developed an appreciation for the natural world that comes only from experience, thanks to a series of three generous owners who allowed their property, just two miles from the town of Marble, to be used as a basecamp for public outdoor education classes.
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Nestled at 9,000 feet amidst a sparkling aspen grove in the “High Elk Corridor” between the Raggeds and Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness areas, this 47-acre homestead remains pristine, with the exception of a 1939 settler’s cabin. The property is an inholding in the White River National Forest, America’s most visited forest, and is bordered on two sides by Wilderness. It is located in the heart of a Colorado Natural Heritage Program “Potential Conservation Area,” designated for high biodiversity significance, and provides outstanding wildlife and riparian habitat. When not hosting groups of students in the fall, the space serves as an elk habitat and migration corridor.
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Mighty views of the Raggeds dominate the prominent flat bench that is at the heart of this land. Heading slightly uphill, views of Elk Mountain are joined by sounds of the North Fork of Lost Trail Creek, which runs along the property’s edge before joining the Crystal River, proposed for Wild and Scenic designation. The popular North Lost Trail traverses the property, providing a wilderness portal for the public.
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​Connect your school with AVLT


​If you represent a local school or youth group and are interested in using the property for outdoor education, please use this form to contact Brian Hightower, AVLT Outdoor Education Coordinator, for more information.
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Support community outdoor education


​You can help forever maintain and improve the Chapin Wright Marble Basecamp facility and welcome more students to experience this unique wilderness. AVLT's Community Education Fund will expand outdoor education to more protected places so more kids can connect to nature and one another. For more information about this fund, contact Jeff Davlyn.
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