As a local Evergreen Realtor, I am always telling relocation buyers about local, historical landmarks. Built in 1909, the Brook Forest Inn has been one of Evergreen, Colorado’s long-enduring landmarks. Nestled in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, the charm of the inn is only slightly shadowed by the legends of the spirits that live there. 
At the Brook Forest Inn, you can relax by the pleasant brook out back while enjoying a fine dining experience, or snuggle up by one of their roaring fireplaces.
In 1909 a small cabin was built on 350 acres that was filed as a homestead by the Westerfield family. Two years later, a harsh winter forced the family away from their land. Edwin and Riggi Welz heard about the abandoned homestead and decided to settle on the land. Upon inspection of the cabin, they found a sign on the door that read “Brook Forest”.
The Brook Forest Inn was opened in 1919. The inn had running water, electricity, and baths, which drew many there. By 1935 business was booming. Horseback trips up to Mount Evans were a much loved adventure that the inn was well known for.
And now, on to the more eerie side of the inn. In 1943 a stable hand, Carl, murdered his lover, a chambermaid named Jessica. After the murder, Carl retreated to the livery where he committed suicide. A little boy, who is said to be the son of the Welzs, passed away from influenza. With the deaths that have occurred at the inn, their spirits may roam the rooms and halls. Guests of the inn and residents in the area have said they have seen apparitions and heard giggling and voices.
“We were awakened in the middle of the night by what sounded liked a child running down the hall very fast”, our own Larry Hotz, All Denver Real Estate Executive Editor told me. “It was 3:30 am and I went to the door to see what happened. No one was there. When we mentioned it at breakfast in the morning, the proprietor told us the story. He said it happens all the time.”
Make a trip up to the inn and decide for yourself. The spirits do seem to be friendly and playful.
Local lore is that before the outbreak of World War II Nazis frequented the Brook Forest Inn. Their purpose was to crisscross the country to make maps for Hitler in prepartion for an invasion. Some even say that swastikas can be found throughout the inn including a large one under the large carpet in the dining room. There are also rumors that Nazi gold is buried on the grounds although nothing has ever been found.
Now, small cabins and some substantial homes are occasionally for sale in the surrounding neighborhood. It seems that Denver relocation buyers from out of state love these little pocket neighborhoods nestled in little canyons near Evergreen. The road to the Inn is quiet because only these few homes and Inn are served by the winding road up the hill. But, be careful not to be distracted by the real estate for sale or the wildlife, including deer, you sometimes see. The road is curvy and there are many hidden driveways.
The Historic Brook Forest Inn with its excellent food and delightful surroundings is a great place to spend the weekend. With its short distance from Denver, you can forget the big city here.
Great post Margaret. Good to see the comment by our local ‘ghost-buster’, Larry Hotz in the article. I have friends that live in Evergreen on Brook Forest Road but have never heard the details you brought out. Keep up the good work my friend. Robert…
The story is true. My wife really freaked out. Loved staying there for the ambiance and the food was good too. Folks who live in Evergreen can dine there without spending the night. It’s fun.
I lived on Brookforest from 1974to 1993when I graduated highschool. I spent many days in the bar area playing pool . From the 3rd floor to the livery and the iron crosses and swazis on the tiles and door knobs. Don’t doubt the stories. It’s always put a shiver up my back. To this day once in awhile I’ll dream abt the inn and it’s even spookier! It’s a must see.
Hi! I was in a hospital in the 80’s with the son of the family that owned the Brook Forest Inn. We were youth in mental health crisis at that time.
I enjoyed a very memorable night at the Inn back in 1978. Can you tell me, please, if it is still recognizable as the same or has it changed a great deal. It’s a very nostalgic place and would appreciate your reply.
I lived in BFE from 1970 to 2001, some of the best New Years Eve parties ever! The stories are all true-well, most of them anyway…
I lived at the brookforest from 1972 until 1980 and knew the Nelson family very well, misty mark, kay and smelly old jack.their oldest daughter married brud dedice. I don’t know anyone one named cris in those years. Except for chris Meredith in the house band that lived on the 3rd floor he was from Massachusetts. So guess I’m saying you’re full of crap and if your not what was the bartenders name from 73 to 77 lived in room # 1?
Hi Victoria I lived there for a couple of years around 1981. I would love to connect to see if you know of any of the locals whereabouts. I moved back to NY around 1984. My email is andrewwbottum@yahoo.com.
I live here in the apartment under the brook forest inn and just thought I’d share a dream I had last night. Memory was a bit fuzzy but I had created some sort of geometrically perfect device that I was sure was able to use the rose quartz of the building as some sort of antenna to talk to spirits, I switched it on and I was about to say hello are there any spirits here? Instead I heard my own voice in some kind of syntactic glossalelia, like speaking in tongues, then a ton of voices started screaming at me and I couldn’t turn it off. Spooky.
I was a guest there right before they closed and had the unfortunate luck of meeting Carl! He is an angry f___ and terrified my child. She woke up to him standing over her while she slept and then he hurled a picture frame across the room.
I used to live in there When I was younger with my father and step mother I have seen a lot of things like the swastika tiles In a old coat closet before you enter the bar I seen the basement thats is where they say the gold is buried it has water under the floor there was a tunnel the led under the street to the cabins but it was sealed off with concrete my father was good friends with the owner Barry at the time they had the 3rd floor sealed off because so much weird things would happen I have a lot more story’s about my time at the brook Forest
I found a confirmation letter from here to my dad for their honeymoon in 1952. Oh how I would love to see this!
Loved reading about this! We live a couple of miles from the Brook Forest Inn which by the way has new owners and it is under remodel.
Can’t wait to dine here if it is revived to its old glory days
I lived and worked at the from 2000 – 2005
The inn was closed to the public permanently.
Never saw/heard any so-called ghosts/spirits.
No Ectoplasm oozing from walls…
ACREW also hired some professional Ghostbusters.
Said Ghostbusters set up cameras, microphones, heat sensors etc. Ghostbusters detected nothing.
Downstairs bar was also closed to the public which really pissed off the locals. Most of the local were inebriated
Inbred moronic asswipes.
ACREW LLC owned the inn.. ACREW was one of the first if not the first Microsoft Certification Boot Camps
. Students would be picked up at DIA and driven to inn.
Students were then checked in and showed to their rooms.
Depending on the time of arrival, students were served
Meals.
French professional chef “Rinse” would serve students gourmet meals during their stay.
The upstairs bar was closed and had no alcohol stocked.
ACREW Microsoft Certification Boot Camps courses were designed for IT professionals who had some background in Windows OS and networking. Courses were highly intensive and fast-paced.
After course, students had the option to submit a voucher and take a set of Microsoft exams.
If students passed all of the exams they would become certified as a MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer).
Other courses/exams/certifications, like Cisco CCNP among others, were also available.
Visionary John Yates created this boot camp.
Mr. Yates designed these courses and was an instructor along with others.
Companies would pay for the courses and the flight to Denver round trip, attend classes and study extremely hard after each class and leave with a Microsoft or Cisco certification.
So when they went back to their respective company, they were certified (Hello Doctor!) and many received a significant pay raise. Inn was run down when ACREW owned it and I’m sure it only got worse. Shoddy construction, like your friends were not true. Some clown sprayed the walls with acoustical ceiling particles.
This goes on ceiling not on the wall.
Was probably to hide the drywall tape/mud.
Prior to ACREW’s time at inn, basement was a dank, dark, sleazy hole in the wall bar frequented by above mentioned drunken inbred mountain folk.
Through the years, Post ACREW, people that have stayed in the inn have complained about the lack of AC,
Size of rooms, quality of food, etc etc.
In conclusion,
THIS HIDEOUS HISTORICAL, DARK PURPLE PAINTED MONSTROSITY NEEDS TO BE BURNED THE F*** DOWN
AS DENZEL WASHINGTON SAID IN TRAINING DAY. GOING TO BURN THIS M*********** TO THE GROUND.
My 92 year old mother was a waitress during one of her college summers. Many great stories as this was her first time away from small-town Missouri. A highlight was a chaperoned visit by her fiancé’, my father. We recently had the pleasure of reading numerous letters between the two of them that summer while she was at Brook Forest and he in St. Louis.
This experience was scary but fun I stayed there for 2 nights, on the first night my uncle opened the kitchen door and saw to other door swing open and also saw wet footprints leading out. That was scary but the reason we went there in the first place was because my other uncle made a mistake and never looked at the reviews of brook forest inn. Anyways the mornings where fun! We got to chill and have family time! But.. in the night we experienced something disturbing, there was one of the rooms, and before there was nothing on the sheets and then, we saw blood all over the sheets and it was horrible! At night there was an alarm that went off at exactly 3:00am all the family rushed to the main living room and the next day we found out the maids “accidentally” set an alarm for the dryer. But at night we heard lots of running. One of my cousins saw a ghost and was petrified. Besides that we had a okay time!
Please tell me they are opening back up. Only stopped for food and drink after a hike but always wanted to stay there. I was sad when I saw it closed.
Played there in early 1990 a couple times with the Route 66 band…. a historically rich landmark, marked by murder, mystery and international significance.
I cannot verify with evidence but believe the the “Nazi Connection” from late 30’s early 40’s, as I personally saw some of the tunnels, swastikas, and other artifacts which I was not allowed to photograph.
An intriguing place, yet an eerily evil presence lingers there……Just ask “Ricky”
We spent many years at the Brook Forest and had an amazing time. We documented many unusual happenings and explained just as many.
You can read about the history and our paranormal investigations in the first volume of our books. Case Files of the Rocky Mountain Paranormal Research Society available at polymathpress.com or any online retailer.