UFO Watchtower
Hooper, Alamosa County, Colorado. Observation platform and campground.
Details
- Where
- 2502 County Rd 61, Hooper, CO. Directions
- When
- Open 7 Days a Week! Monday-Friday: 10:00am-5:00pm (Gift Shop).
- Season
- Open 7 days a week; gift shop hours Monday-Friday 10:00am-5:00pm.
- Getting there
- On the west side of CO-17, about 2.5 miles north of Hooper and CO-112. Look for the billboards.
- Fees
- Adults $5. Overnight camping $15.
- Access
- Primitive camping available on site; pass the time with your eyes on the sky, checking out the Healing Garden or even camping on site.
- Walk-in or reserve
- Walk-in welcome; no reservation required.
- Phone
- 719-378-2296
- Managed by
- Judy Messoline (managed by her son, Larry Messoline).
- Established
- 2000.
Ten-foot-high metal viewing platform with a stucco saucer dome gift shop, opened in the summer of 2000 on Judy Messoline's ranch in the San Luis Valley; surrounded by the Healing Garden and offering primitive camping.
Notable Events
- 2021Messoline added the complete skeleton of Snippy the horse, whose butchered body generated international interest when found in 1967, to her collection. cpr.org
- Judy Messoline and her partner Stan Becker moved to a patch of land north of Alamosa, where she heard the valley's stories of Ant People and livestock mutilations. cpr.org
People
- Judy Messoline, builder and owner; a Colorado rancher who built the watchtower.
- Stan Becker, Judy Messoline's partner; the watchtower has been their primary source of income for two decades.