Editor’s Note: As we pass the first anniversary of the Lee and Elk fires, which burned 238 square miles of Rio Blanco County, the Herald Times will be publishing a series about the continued effects of the fires on our communities. If you have a story you would like to share, please call the office at 970-878-4017 or email [email protected].

Ducey’s White River Resort has been a quiet escape from the hustle and bustle of daily life for more than three decades.

Walt and Barbara Ducey purchased the property in 1993 and operated the resort for 26 years. When they retired in 2019, they weren’t ready to see the doors close, so their son Russ and his wife, Liz, took over management of the family business.

Since then, the friendships Walt and Barbara built over the years have become theirs, too, along with new guests who return year after year.

“I get Christmas cards every year from people and phone calls,” Liz said. “Everybody has a story.”

People come to the resort, about 13 miles east of Meeker on County Road 8, to relax, unwind and get away for a while. Eight cabins offer varying amenities, and a lodge gives guests a place to play pool, watch television or simply spend time together.

“I just love seeing people be able to do that,” Liz said.

Last year, that sense of peace was shattered when the Elk Fire came knocking at the resort’s doorstep.

When the fire started, Liz knew there was a wildfire burning but didn’t feel particularly threatened.

“I thought it was at a good distance — until it wasn’t,” she said.

The resort was evacuated as the fire moved closer. Across County Road 8 on the north side of the property, flames came down the mountain. Fire burned trees and fencing near an RV area on one side of the property, while hot ash fell near a carport and into a stack of wood on the other.

“It was burning on both sides of us. If it would have taken off …” Liz said.

Thankfully, it didn’t.

Liz credits local firefighters and wildland crews with saving the resort.

“We are just so grateful … they worked hard and they saved that special place,” she said.

Although the structures survived, the effects of the fire didn’t end when the flames were extinguished.

Ash settled into the cabins and continued to find its way inside, requiring additional cleaning. Odd gusts of wind have continued to bring clouds of black ash through the property.

“We’re still, even from the fire, still getting ash,” Liz said.

The Duceys’ experience is part of an ongoing post-fire hazard across the Lee and Elk burn scars. In addition to ash, heavy rains have repeatedly prompted National Weather Service flash flood warnings and caused mudslides, debris flows and road closures in Rio Blanco County.

After an earlier flash flood, the Duceys began mitigation work in November 2025, including installing a cattle guard in the driveway. That work successfully redirected water from that route, but when another flash flood struck July 29, water found a new way to ruin things.

Russ was at the resort watering when a violent thunderstorm hit. As he drove back toward town, Liz said, he saw logs, rocks and debris coming off the mountain along County Road 8.

The next morning, people traveling upriver began sending messages about the damage.

“People that had gone upriver early were texting, going, ‘Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh,’” Liz said.

The flood carved a new path into the resort, carrying thick mud, rocks and debris with it. The Duceys had no choice but to close and cancel reservations for August, one of the busiest months of a season that typically runs from Memorial Day weekend through the end of second hunting season in early November.

HOW TO CLEAN UP A MUDSLIDE: ONE SHOVELFUL AT A TIME

For now, the goal is to clean up enough to reopen and finish the season.

Mudslides don’t come with an instruction manual or directions for how to mitigate and move on. The Duceys have been using tractors and shovels to form the mud and debris into berms designed to direct water away from the cabins if more flooding occurs. They are also working toward more permanent mitigation solutions.

“For now, that’s what we’re going to do to finish off the season,” Liz said.

The burned mountainside north of the resort remains largely bare. The area needs gentle, soaking rain and new vegetation, which will take time.

“I think we just need new things to grow,” Liz said. “I know it’s going to take at least five years, if not longer, to get something up there that’ll keep everything off.”

SMALL COMMUNITIES SHOW UP 

In small-community style, the Duceys haven’t been doing all the cleanup work alone. Neighbors have brought equipment to help move mud and debris, while community members have offered everything from shovels to machinery. Even former guests have checked to see what they can do.

“Even people that have stayed up there that live far away are like, ‘Can I help you?’ It’s just been overwhelming.”

The response has been another reminder of why the resort matters. It isn’t just the land, cabins or location. It is the relationships and memories built there over more than 30 years.

Some of the people who visited when Walt and Barbara operated the resort still come today.

“They’re the ones that started the coolness of the place,” Liz said. “I still have people coming that came back when they were running the place. … I’m trying to do the job as they did, you know, running the place and making everybody feel welcome.”

It would be easy to close the doors. They don’t want to.

“We just want to restore it back to how it was before, and just take the bumps with the rain, you know, flooding,” Liz said. “As long as we can keep it away from [the resort] and keep the doors open, that’s our goal.”

For more than three decades, people have traveled upriver to Ducey’s White River Resort to slow down, get outside and make memories. Despite fire, ash, floods and uncertainty, the Duceys are working to make sure that continues for many more years on their special slice of White River paradise.

Ducey’s White River Resort, about 13 miles east of Meeker on County Road 8, is a fixture of the landscape and has been operated by the Ducey family since 1993. The resort is working to reopen after flash flooding from the Elk Fire burn scar forced it to close for the month of August.