WOODLAND PARK • Michael Sturdevant always marvels at the world map on the wall. Every corner is covered by pins, a reminder that people from everywhere have made their way to this little blue house in the little town up the mountain pass from Colorado Springs.

The Donut Mill’s odd tradition spans across borders.

“About 18 months ago, a Mexican family drove up,” says Sturdevant, the institution’s owner. “They drove from Juárez to come up here. I got a letter in the men’s bathroom, and they wanted their son to read that letter, because that’s what his father did before him. They drove all the way up for that and a doughnut.”

It’s a rather unremarkable letter, blown up and framed. It’s written by a woman from Lincoln, Neb., in 1979, not long after the shop opened. In it, she raves about the sweets of her Colorado vacations and pleads for a second location closer to her home.

But no, there could only be one Donut Mill.

And yes, the traditions and stories are many — odd, indeed, as the 6-pound cinnamon rolls bigger than any man’s head.

“Wednesday afternoons, we have a busload of older ladies from a retirement home come up,” Sturdevant says. “They sit and have one of those cinnamon rolls each. And the bus driver looks (mad) all the time, because he has to wait two hours for them to finish.”

There are those in no rush, the Donut Mill faithful who catch up over coffee and oversized pastries (the apple fritters and bear claws are other favorites). Then there are those passing through, drivers from the Springs and tourists stopping en route to such destinations as Summit and Chaffee counties.

People from near and far do not pass through Woodland Park without stopping. It’s something about the old-school atmosphere, hardly changed over 45 years. Something about those doughnuts and the equally beloved biscuits and gravy. Something, perhaps, about that view of Pikes Peak out the front door. It all lingers in hearts and minds, as it does bellies.

Another story from Sturdevant, this one about a man calling from Pennsylvania:

“I said, ‘What can I help you with?’ And he said, ‘Well, I’m having a really bad day, and I turned my chair around, and there’s a picture of the Donut Mill, and it just makes me feel better.’”

At 76, Sturdevant looks like he could be one of the grandpas out with the grandkids for breakfast. He’s well-traveled in the industry, a lifelong baker and restaurateur refusing to retire. He settled on this quaint shop near his home in 2009.

“Something like 14 restaurants I’ve had,” Sturdevant says, “but I’ve never seen this kind of attachment people have.”

The Donut Mill is home to everyone everywhere after the building was first home to John Webb and his family in the late 1890s. Webb was in charge of the railroad depot across the street.

The next century saw the building house several businesses along Woodland Park’s main drag. In the summer of 1977, Bob and Marcia Kinner opened the Donut Mill, complete with a Dutch theme and a windmill from a local ranch.

Along with the doughnuts — no small achievement at elevations not kind to baking, near 8,500 feet — the Kinners developed what would be called “super-secret gravy,” said to incorporate 11 spices. The recipe would continue to be closely guarded by the next owners, Jack and Randi Heard. The Donut Mill had woven itself into the town’s fabric by the time they took over in 2002.

“The Donut Mill has a life of its own,” Randi Heard told The Gazette around that time. “We just inhabit it and take care of it.”

Which was a tall task after a fire early into their tenure. The rebuild led to discoveries of the structure’s unlikely origin.

“When they built the building back in 1896, they put in a rock perimeter — just rocks, not mortar. Then they laid foundation timbers on the dirt and built the building on top,” Jack Heard told the paper. “Nothing was connected, but for 106 years the building stood steady as a rock.”

Business is steady as ever. Even during the hardest times of the pandemic, lines formed out the door in the dim hours before opening.

Those were people holding onto something good — something described in that letter on the bathroom wall.

“We hope to be in Colorado next year,” the Nebraska woman wrote, “and we’ll look forward to stopping again for our favorite donuts!”

On the menu

Owner Michael Sturdevant says as many as 30 different doughnuts have been made over the years. His favorites are the cake varieties ($2), which are sizes you’d expect, unlike the others. The flavors are fresh, including strawberry, blueberry and buttermilk.

Among large, specialty doughnuts ($4): rings that are glazed and chocolate- and maple-frosted; long johns with those same frostings and also filled with Bavarian cream; apple fritters and maple-bacon fritters; and bear claws dipped in chocolate.

The “small” cinnamon rolls are bigger than fists, but still much smaller than the “giant” rolls ($8). They’re dolloped with frosting. Also doughnut holes, 30 cents each.

The biscuits and gravy recipe has been maintained for 45 years, said to be perfected by 11 different spices. One biscuit for $5, two for $7. Pre-made burritos ($5), packed with meats or veggies and topped with green chile or gravy. Also English muffin sandwiches and meat and cheese kolaches served hot and buttery.

Blue Bell ice cream in the afternoon. Small and large cups and cones ($5-$6), milkshakes and floats.