Located 50 minutes southwest of Denver lies a new eco-retreat and immersive art park mecca called Everland. In the summer of 2020, Everland Eco Retreat & Immersive Art Park began planning on 145 acres of land surrounded by national forests. Founder and CEO Jonny Jenkins wanted the space to be a grounded center that can be utilized for health, wellness and authentic connections for generations to come.
“All artists can come out and create in this collaboratively made trail network,” Jenkins explains. “There’s lots of opportunities for wellness. Many of us feel that as soon as we can connect and find our own voice and our highest alignment, we enter this genius, the inner visionary.”
Most notable of their offerings is the intricately designed retreat space that paves access to experiential hiking paths, nature nooks, yoga decks and more. You can visit for a curated “Rejuvenate With Us” day-retreat on the weekend or wellness and spiritual leaders can book out the retreat center for a weekend retreat.
A day at Everland can look like flowing through a fresh yoga class in the morning, followed by a picnic lunch and tour of the land and then a second group session, which varies from nature walks with tinctures, sound healing or back on the mat for a yoga fusion class.
“Everland is able to run retreats through a partnership with our non-profit sister spiritual organization, Sanctuary of the Inner Compass, which is all about connecting to nature, each other and ourselves through art and service as a spiritual practice,” says Sophie Howell, program director.
Co-creation is at the heart of Everland. “When you invite others to be a part of the creation, there is a deep level of connection. It inspires me,” Jenkins shares. Guests at Everland are encouraged to share their inner gifts and exchange passions in the ever-evolving environment.
This winter and spring, a variety of retreats are scheduled, including a musical retreat with Yaima, among others.
In response to COVID, the Everland team is rising up. A mission of theirs is to offer artists who are out of work a chance to create on a blank canvas and collaborate on new projects at Everland. Plus, they are offering scholarships to local BIQPOC (Black, Indigenous, Queer and People Of Color) artists and guests looking to contribute to or experience Everland’s mission.
One of the artists who was funded by Everland’s Kickstarter campaign is Tigre Bailando, a genderqueer person of color whose art pieces have appeared in Burning Man and Electric Forest, among others. They are an experiential artist and have already built some of the first art sculptures for Everland that represents animal spirits and folklore. The immersive art park and campground are scheduled to open in fall 2021.
Everland is leading the way for retreat spaces to reach beyond the traditional. Their transcendental experience is a must-try this upcoming season.
Learn more at everland.co and sanctuaryoftheinnercompass.org.
Photos courtesy of Jeff Jones.
Originally published in the Winter + Spring 2020-21 issue of CO YOGA + Life® Magazine.
