Originally posted on my Thrillhead Blog
As I mentioned in my Sneffels trip report, in order to access Sneffels, we had to pass through the town of Ouray. Ouray is a wonderful town- one of my most favorite in Colorado. Since we finished Sneffels quite early in the day, we decided to spend a couple of hours wandering around Ouray on our return.
Ouray was officially established in 1876, the same year that Colorado became a state. It is named after a Ute Chief, who was forced to sign a treaty giving up the San Juans to settlers. As with most other towns in Colorado, it was established by miners. While there was mining in Ouray, the best mining in the region was in towns further up the mountains which are now all ghost towns- like Sneffels, Irontown, and Imogene.
Today, Ouray is primarily a tourist town. Tourists love the scenery, history, and hot springs. Summer is the town’s main season as visitors often travel over Red Mountain Pass from Durango and can continue on to Telluride. In the winter, skiing can still be a bit far away with Durango ski area (formerly Purgatory) and Telluride being 1 to 1.5 hours away. But, the town has found a niche for itself in the winter by building a series of ice walls in a nearby box canyon. This ice park has attracted ice climbers all over the country.
Ouray is one of the few towns that did not suffer a major fire during the late 1800′s or early 1900′s. Because of that, more of the buildings are original than in other mining towns. The buildings easily inspire, and it is easy to think of what this town looked like in the mining era. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.
Check out these sites for more on the history of Ouray.
Railroad
Ouray History
Mining History
Ice Park
