Flying W Ranch, Ranch entertainment venue in Colorado Springs, United States.
Flying W Ranch is a working mountain cattle ranch and entertainment venue in the foothills of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Its Western Village gathers 29 structures, among them a church, jail, schoolhouse, Taos Pueblo, kiva, library, drug store, homestead, Ute Theater and train depot, all built or moved to the site. From May to October it serves outdoor chuckwagon suppers.
Russ and Marian Wolfe started the Flying W Chuckwagon in 1953, serving chuckwagon suppers after horseback rides. They built the Western Village, which grew to 29 structures. The Waldo Canyon Fire destroyed the ranch on June 26, 2012; portions reopened on July 10, 2020, after an 8,000-square-foot event facility broke ground in 2019.
The Flying W Wranglers, the ranch's western band, play after the chuckwagon suppers; the ranch is one of six member chuckwagons of the Chuckwagon Association of the West, alongside outfits in Wyoming, South Dakota, New Mexico, Missouri and Colorado. The Picketwire Bar, built in the 1880s and named for the Purgatoire River, was moved to the ranch in 1969.
Chuckwagon suppers and shows run from May to October, with the meal outdoors and the western band performing after it. The rebuilt event facility seats 900, so large groups can be accommodated. The ranch lies in the foothills west of Colorado Springs, off the road into Waldo Canyon; evenings cool quickly at this elevation, so bring a jacket.
The last event before the Waldo Canyon Fire was a wedding in the Old Chapel on Saturday, June 23, 2012, the day the fire started; guests were evacuated by police right after the service while staff rushed to save artifacts. General manager Jay Chladek, who worked at the ranch almost 27 years, had married there days earlier and was on his honeymoon when it burned.
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