GRANBY • The road weaves through young pines, short enough that the view is unobstructed: the Continental Divide, Indian Peaks and high points of this western side of Rocky Mountain National Park. The sky seems endless above. And below, a snowy canvas of endless possibilities.

A sign along the road points the way: “Now entering the 5,000-acre memory maker.”

Welcome to Snow Mountain Ranch.

“I feel like it’s a hidden gem,” said Michael Ohl, the general manager.

Not that it’s hard to find; YMCA of the Rockies’ largest property is in easy reach off U.S. 40 between Winter Park and Grand Lake. Though, Snow Mountain Ranch does tend to hide in the shadow of the Estes Park camp, on the other, more traveled side of Rocky Mountain National Park.

YMCA of the Rockies in recent years has reported about 210,000 annual visitors through conferences, youth camps and family vacations. Ohl said about a quarter of those visitors are coming to Snow Mountain Ranch.

They find much more open space here: about 5,100 acres compared with Estes Park’s acreage closer to 900. They find much more of a winter destination — proclaimed by a groomed Nordic trail system roaming 50 miles around cabins, multi-story lodges and several play zones.

“I talk to a lot of people who’ve heard of this place but never stopped in,” said Mary Ann Degginger, Snow Mountain Ranch’s programs director. “I’ve talked to people who live in this community who say they’ve driven by it but never pulled in.”

Many other locals do pull in as members of the Nordic center. They are free to ski to their heart’s desire through snowy meadows and higher, scenic forests. Friends and families ski in and out of trail-side cabins. Those are booked in sizes ranging from two bedrooms to eight bedrooms hosting generational reunions.

It’s far from just cross-country skiing here. Some opt for snowshoes or fat bikes. Many take to the steep, thrilling hill for sledding and tubing. Beside that hill is the ice rink for skating. Families board sleds pulled by Alaskan huskies. Others catch a horse-drawn sleigh ride. And others rent downhill skis and head to Winter Park Resort.

It’s no wonder families make Snow Mountain Ranch their base camp for ski vacations. It’s no wonder those multi-generational reunions flourish.

Yes, Snow Mountain Ranch gives new meaning to the song. “It’s fun to stay at the YMCA …”

“Where else can you bring the grandparents, the parents and the grandkids and put them all together, and there’s something for everybody?” Degginger said.

The nonprofit prides itself as a more affordable option. The kids can eat at the dining hall or kitchen in their overnight cabin before moving on to the swimming pool, the arts and crafts center, or the Kiva Recreation Center, home to roller skating, rock climbing, basketball, volleyball, table tennis and — perhaps for the grandparents, yes — pickleball.

Free nightly activities include bingo, dodgeball, story time and hot chocolate in the library, and the highly anticipated “human hungry hippos.”

Maybe the kids and kids at heart return to rooms lacking TVs. That’s kind of the point here where fresh, frosty air beckons, where moose and elk might be seen moving across the trail network.

Reads another sign along the entrance road: “Where quality time happens naturally.”

The nonprofit’s mission is read elsewhere: “YMCA of the Rockies puts Christian principles into practice through programs, staff and facilities in an environment that builds healthy spirit, mind and body for all.”

“For all” is the common refrain here.

“We have faith, but we don’t push a particular faith,” Steve Peterson said.

Peterson was the longtime chaplain here before turning his sporting hobby into his vocation. He now runs the dogsled tours. The activity is but one aspect of Snow Mountain Ranch’s unique education, Peterson said: “It’s experiential learning. The opportunities for that are limitless.”

The opportunities lend to a Neverland feel here. Seasonal staffers vie for chances to return or for long-term employment. That includes Bailey Kretschmer, who is grateful now for her position as assistant programs director.

It’s not exactly what she had in mind with her degree in biomedicine. But she struggled to turn away from this world of fun — away from the kind of families she’s come to meet.

“For a lot of them, it’s their first time seeing snow or their first time in the mountains,” Kretschmer said. “Or sometimes their first time seeing the Milky Way.”

The sense of wonder endures.

“It gets real easy to get sucked in and stay,” Degginger said.

She’s stayed for 20 years. But it hasn’t all been dreamy for her and her husband.

It was the opposite in 2012. Their firstborn child had been diagnosed with cancer. Riley would die at the age 5.

When Degginger calls her colleagues at Snow Mountain Ranch her family, she means it. “When I say they supported us, they supported us,” she said.

They kept her home clean. They brought meals. They told her not to worry about work, not to worry about anything other than Riley, to just spend time with her boy.

It was precious, precious time. And if it had to be spent somewhere, Snow Mountain Ranch was as good a place as any, Degginger thinks. There was fun all around, good memories to be made amid the pain.

“It was a horrible reason to have to feel that, but it was a wonderful thing,” Degginger said.

It’s always wonderful to see Peterson, the chaplain-turned-dog musher. He was there holding Degginger’s hand during the diagnosis, and he’s been here ever since.

He’s here getting a dog sled ready for a visiting father and son. Degginger has stopped to say hello. A big hug is shared before the tour takes off, and another memory is made to last a lifetime.