The Story of Durango Mesa Park

Pictured: gravel mine reclamation completion, 2007

A topographic map with contour lines on a green background.

A Shared Vision

Your Mesa: Community Driven Design

Durango Mesa Park began with an extraordinary act of generosity and a community-first vision. In 2015, Marc Katz purchased the property known as Ewing Mesa with the intention of giving it back as a place to gather, explore, and connect. Since then, sustained community outreach and participation have helped guide the park’s design, amenities, and priorities, shaping a place that reflects local values and shared care for the land. Durango Mesa Park is where nature and community meet. Where culture and adventure thrive side by side. And where the future is guided by care, connection, and possibility.

Group of people sitting under a large tent, listening to a man speaking at a presentation or meeting.

Katz Family Vision

Marc Katz and the Katz family envision Durango Mesa Park as a lasting community asset, a place where western heritage, culture, recreation, and open space come together to support both connection and economic vitality. After building and selling a Durango-based business, Katz purchased the 1,850-acre mesa in 2015 with the express purpose of preserving the land and gifting it for the community’s long-term benefit.

Katz family vision

Marc Katz and the Katz family envision Durango Mesa Park as a lasting community asset, a place where western heritage, culture, recreation, and open space come together to support both connection and economic vitality. After building and selling a Durango-based business, Katz purchased the 1,850-acre mesa in 2015 with the express purpose of preserving the land and gifting it for the community’s long-term benefit.

Five hikers standing on a dirt trail in a rural area, with a background of rolling hills and greenery, under a clear blue sky.

Durango Mesa Park Foundation

The Durango Mesa Park Foundation helps guide the vision, stewardship, and development of the mesa as a lasting community asset. After Marc Katz conveyed the 1,850-acre property to the Foundation in 2019, the board and staff have worked with partners and the public to move the park forward.

Durango Mesa Park Foundation

The Durango Mesa Park Foundation helps guide the vision, stewardship, and development of the mesa as a lasting community asset. After Marc Katz conveyed the 1,850-acre property to the Foundation in 2019, the board and staff have worked with partners and the public to move the park forward.

From Extraction to Outdoor Recreation: This Land Has Lived Many Chapters

Scenic view of mountain range with snow-capped peaks, rolling hills, and a foreground of trees with orange leaves under a partly cloudy blue sky.

The area now known as Durango Mesa Park, formerly Ewing Mesa, was originally home to the Nuuchiu (Ute) people and remains connected to the Jicarilla Apache, Pueblo, Hopi, and Diné Nations, who stewarded this landscape long before settlers arrived.

A landscape of a quarry with hills and mountains in the background, showing excavated earth and piles of dark rock, under a blue sky with some clouds.

The mesa was later shaped by coal mining, gravel operations, hayfields, and grazing, reflecting Durango’s early extractive economy.

A golf course with sand traps and a putting green, surrounded by trees and mountains in the background.

Between 2004 and 2008, commercial and residential development was explored for the mesa, including plans for a golf course and subdivision.

A scenic landscape with golden grassy fields in the foreground, a small green bush on the right, distant mountains, and a partly cloudy blue sky.

In 2015, the Katz family purchased the 1,850-acre property with a vision to create a lasting community gift.

Five men standing and talking in an open field with mountains in the background.

Now entrusted to the Durango Mesa Park Foundation, the mesa is being thoughtfully transformed into a public resource shaped by community input, restored landscapes, open space preservation, and new opportunities for gathering, connection, and outdoor adventure.