The Catto Center at Toklat was once the family home of one of ACES’ most influential founders, Stuart Mace, and holds great meaning for the Aspen community. Nestled high in the pristine Castle Creek Valley, the site is often compared to Thoreau’s Walden Pond, Leopold’s Shack, or the Murie Ranch.

The Catto Center at Toklat provides a unique “window into wilderness” for visitors to experience the extraordinary beauty and to understand the rich ecological diversity of the upper Castle Creek Valley. The goal is to challenge the visitor to explore the scientific, historical, and spiritual roots of our relationship with the natural world. Toklat, an Inuit word meaning “headwaters,” was built by Stuart and and his wife Isabel in 1948 as a wilderness lodge and family home. The early dog sledding trips, the pristine sub-alpine environment, and tall tales told around the hearth in the evening drew both locals and visitors from all over the world.

In 2004, with the help of long-time ACES supporters Jessica Hobby Catto and her husband Henry, ACES bought Toklat to preserve Stuart’s legacy and this community touchstone. The Catto Center at Toklat is located near the headwaters of Castle Creek in a dramatic landscape and serves as a gathering place for cultural and ecological discourse.