Originally from Kansas, Timber and Jerrilynn are warm, genuine people who seem perfectly at home in a place where friendliness still matters. The food was excellent, the atmosphere inviting, and the hospitality unmistakable. In many ways, it felt familiar because throughout its long history, The Timbers has consistently delivered that rare combination of good food, welcoming ownership, and legendary steaks.

Yet behind the meals and memories lie a few more pleasant surprises. In fact, the history of The Timbers includes six lesser-known facts that help explain why this restaurant has remained such a meaningful gathering place in the valley for decades.

Long before The Timbers became a restaurant, the Village had already learned how to gather people. What later became known as Cuchara Avenue quietly emerged in the early 1900s as the community’s dining and social corridor. The road has hosted successive eateries that introduced generations of visitors to shared meals, fellowship, entertainment, and valley life. It all started in the early 1900s as the dining hall for Cuchara Camps until 1948. (1 & 2)    

George Mayes, founder of Cuchara Camps, bought the old W. J. Gould Ranch and converted the house into a small hotel with a modest dining room to serve summer guests. (3) The modest dining room served guests from 1908 to 1948 and, by the end of that period, desperately needed upgrading. (4)   

As Cuchara grew beyond its Camps-era roots, that tradition of gathering migrated only a short distance down the same road. In 1949, The Chuck Wagon opened along what had become Cuchara Avenue and became the center of Cuchara’s social life.(5) The Chuck Wagon was a humble, log-sided café warmed by a river-rock fireplace, knotty pine paneling, and lit by wagon-wheel chandeliers. It was a place where fried chicken, chicken-fried steak, and homemade pie drew locals and summer visitors together from the 1950s through the 1970s. Over time it was expanded with a second dining room and a coffee shop, remaining “a Cuchara tradition” for decades. It served the growing Cuchara resort from 1949 to 1979 until it was destroyed by fire on September 24, 1979. (6)    

In the wake of the fire, plans quickly took shape to begin again. The following year, in 1980, The Timbers rose on the same prized ground where the Chuck Wagon had stood,  carrying the site’s long tradition of gathering people and making memories. Completed around 1981, the new building embraced a rustic mountain design that felt right at home in Cuchara. I was defined by log vigas, vaulted wood ceilings, stone fireplaces, and an upper loft that included living quarters.  From the beginning, The Timbers set out to strike a balance between refinement and comfort as an upscale yet relaxed mountain dining/dinner theater experience where steaks, local game, and regional specialties brought tourists and locals to the same table. After the ski resort closed, The Timbers entered a period of uneven seasons with moments of promise followed by real challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic finally flattened the market and kept its doors closed until new ownership emerged in the summer of 2025.

Over the years, restaurants on Cuchara Avenue have risen and fallen, but that short road has always been a place for shared meals, fellowship, friendships, and relationships that endured long after the tables were cleared. As the years passed, this short stretch of road, first dirt, then gravel, and finally pavement, continued to draw people together. Some of its guests were familiar and some famous, turning an ordinary mountain restaurant into an unlikely stopping place for well-known visitors.

In 1982, members of the Denver Nuggets visited Cuchara and had lunch at The Timbers.(10)   For a small mountain community, it was one of those surreal moments when the outside world briefly collided with everyday life. It’s the kind of story locals still smile about. For some, a visit to Cuchara lasted only a meal or an afternoon, but for others, the connection ran deeper, leading from guest tables to ownership stakes.

This includes names like Dave Evans and B. J. “Red” McCombs. Best known for owning the Minnesota Vikings and previously the San Antonio Spurs, McCombs discovered the Cuchara Valley in the mid-1980s and began investing in local real estate. (11) There were also other prominent investors, along with non-owning managers and leaseholders, connected to the ups and downs of the Pandora Ski Resort in Cuchara. The Timbers wasn’t born in a sleepy village. It opened in the early 1980s, right as Cuchara was chasing a vision of becoming a major family ski destination. The restaurant’s scale, design, and ambition reflect that moment, when the village believed its future might be bigger, busier, and brighter.

Yet prominent names and ambitious visions could not shield the restaurant from the practical realities of operating in a small, seasonal mountain community.

From its earliest years, The Timbers Restaurant became known in local newspapers for well-prepared steaks and richly flavored salmon. (12). In later decades, skiers and travelers routinely made the climb up Highway 12 specifically for weekend prime rib and steak dinners, a reputation echoed in regional travel writing and reviews. (13)     

The Timbers’ legendary steaks drew everyone from prominent figures and hometown regulars to hardworking blue-collar diners. And, on occasion, the appeal proved irresistible even to local bears who seemed more than willing to pull up a chair of their own.

In the mid-1990s, one particularly enterprising bear broke into The Timbers’ freezer and helped itself to several steaks, apparently developing a taste for fine dining. (14)   Local newspapers reported the incident, reminding Cucharans that wildlife here isn’t just scenery, it’s part of daily life, even when it shows up uninvited and after hours. Stories like this tend to linger in small mountain towns, retold with a smile and a shake of the head, serving as a reminder that in Cuchara, good steak doesn’t go unnoticed by people or bears.

Keeping a restaurant alive in a small mountain community, especially one where the local ski resort has closed, has never been easy, and the story of The Timbers reflects that reality. Over the decades, a succession of owners, each with their own hopes and plans, took on the quiet challenge of sustaining a place that meant more to the valley than simply somewhere to eat.

Following the 1979 fire that destroyed the Chuck Wagon, The Timbers emerged in 1980–81 under the ownership of local investors who rebuilt on the same site. Their effort marked both a physical and symbolic continuation of the land’s long role as a gathering place, carrying the tradition of hospitality forward into a new era.

By 1984, The Timbers entered a new chapter when Dave Evans, a Texas rancher and one of the developers behind Cuchara’s ski resort, stepped in as its new owner. (15) Evans’s ownership tied the restaurant closely to the ski area boom years, a time when Cuchara envisioned itself as a growing destination. His sudden and unexpected death in 1988 brought another transition, and once again The Timbers changed hands. (16)  

After Evans’s passing, ownership of both the Cuchara Inn and The Timbers passed to B. J. “Red” McCombs, a Texas billionaire whose interests extended far beyond the valley. By the early 1990s, he had become the principal owner of the 44-room Cuchara Inn, which was adjacent to The Timbers, as well as the Timbers Restaurant building itself,. This placed two of the community’s most prominent properties under a single stewardship. 

Although this post focuses on ownership, it should be noted that although Red McCombs was the legal owner, the restaurant’s daily life was, at times, shaped by independent leaseholders whose long tenures led many locals to remember them as owners in all but name.

As the ski resort reopened and closed several times over the years, The Timbers found itself increasingly underutilized, yet it managed to survive. Through the 2000s, the restaurant continued to operate intermittently, mirroring the broader ups and downs of Cuchara as tourism ebbed and flowed.

In 2009, ownership of the Cuchara Inn and The Timbers transferred to Dan Brewer, who faced significant operational challenges almost immediately. Chief among them were unusually high water and sewer rates for hotels. These rates had been set when the ski resort was booming but became increasingly oppressive after its closure. (17, 18)  

When The Timbers reopened after a long period of dormancy, it did so under new ownership, transplants from Kansas bringing fresh energy and steady hands. But what no one could have predicted was this: the new owner’s first name is Timber, and his last name is Wood. In a valley where trees shape the skyline, the economy, and the very name of the restaurant, the coincidence felt less like branding and more like destiny. As if the building itself had been waiting for someone whose name already belonged to the place.

Drawing on careers rooted in service and long hours, Timber and Jerrilynn Wood approach The Timbers with a practical, people-first philosophy. Jerrilynn’s decades as an elementary teacher and principal, paired with Timber’s experience in sales and managing a working ranch, inform how they run the restaurant day to day: attentive, adaptable, and grounded in hospitality. They are keenly aware of the deep memories tied to The Timbers and intend to preserve its familiar look and feel, ensuring it remains a place where birthdays, anniversaries, and milestone gatherings feel just as special as they always have. At the same time, they are committed to making the restaurant welcoming and approachable for everyday dining, not just special occasions. They also want to gradually introduce menu updates, adding live music, and partnering with community theater groups for melodramas and dinner theater that invite people to linger and return often.

Operationally, the Woods see success as something built patiently and in partnership with the community. Their menu philosophy centers on quality and care: U.S.-produced beef at the core, complemented by Colorado-made wines, spirits, and locally crafted beer, with plans to expand thoughtfully as they fine-tune offerings. Locally sourced coffee, blended teas, and house-made sourdough reflect their desire to elevate the experience without losing its warmth or authenticity. Just as important is their commitment to people. They desire to create good-paying local jobs, offer opportunities for growth into leadership roles, and provide a venue where local musicians and artists can be seen and heard. Open to feedback and eager to give back, Timber and Jerrilynn are focused on running The Timbers not merely as a business, but as a year-round gathering place that strengthens the fabric of Cuchara and Pinehaven, one meal and one memory at a time.

Get to know the Woods more personally in Journal 77, where they share the story of how they found their way to The Timbers, their vision for stewarding the restaurant’s next chapter,  and its role as a gathering place in the community.

After decades of meals, memories, setbacks, and renewal, the next twist in The Timbers’ story feels especially fitting. A restaurant named The Timbers reopening under an owner named Timber Wood. You can’t make that stuff up! It’s a perfect illustration of the difference between coincidence and serendipity. A coincidence is something that simply happens; serendipity is when what happens feels meaningfully appropriate.

In the end, the serendipity of it all is best understood not in words but in person—by stepping inside, sharing a meal, and meeting Timber and Jerrilynn Wood, the people now caring for a place that has long belonged to the valley.(19)

The Timbers Steaks and Spirits

23 Cuchara Ave E

La Veta, CO  81055

(719) 988-0189