# Sundance Mountain and the Palmer Lake Star

- URL: https://palmerdivideresearch.com/places/sundance-mountain-and-the-palmer-lake-star/
- Also known as: Ben Floss Mountain
- Kind: Landmark rocks, buttes and mountains
- Status: Living today
- County: El Paso County, Colorado
- Point: 39.1217, -104.9295 (USGS GNIS point for the feature itself (a few hundred feet))

- Updated: 2026-10-07

## What we know

Mountain above Palmer Lake, earlier 'Ben Floss Mountain' (PLHS, 'Lucretia Vaile,' S-0002). Volunteers (Gilbert Wolf, Floyd Bellinger, George Sill, Jesse Krueger and his sons) built the star on its face, first lit in mid-December 1935 (OCN write-ups of PLHS talks, S-0112). PLHS gives the star's site as 14 acres 'just West of the Town' on a 58 percent slope, facing a bearing of 111 degrees, and names Rod VanVelson and Jane VanVelson-Potts's 'Star Light, Star Bright' (1980) as its history (S-0002). The point is the summit; the star is on the east face. Countess Murat's cottage stood 'below Sundance Mountain.' A fringe place.

## Where it was

USGS GNIS summit 'Sundance Mountain', El Paso County (2021 Colorado file, S-0007). Good to a few hundred feet.

## Sources

- S-0002: https://palmerdivideresearch.com/sources/#s-0002
- S-0006: https://palmerdivideresearch.com/sources/#s-0006
- S-0007: https://palmerdivideresearch.com/sources/#s-0007
- S-0112: https://palmerdivideresearch.com/sources/#s-0112

## Nearby

- [Vaile cottage](https://palmerdivideresearch.com/places/vaile-cottage/): 0.4 mi east
- [Estemere](https://palmerdivideresearch.com/places/estemere/): 0.5 mi east
- [Katrina Murat cottage](https://palmerdivideresearch.com/places/katrina-murat-cottage/): 0.5 mi east
- [Pillsbury Store](https://palmerdivideresearch.com/places/pillsbury-store/): 0.6 mi east
- [Little Log Church](https://palmerdivideresearch.com/places/little-log-church/): 0.6 mi east
- [Cliff House](https://palmerdivideresearch.com/places/cliff-house/): 0.6 mi east

Source numbers (S-0000) refer to https://palmerdivideresearch.com/sources/. Compiled by Michael Christensen for Palmer Divide Research; CC BY 4.0.