Little Ouray, ‘the Switzerland of America,’ is very picturesque and littered with old houses and buildings. The visitors center and museum issue a free leaflet with details of an excellent walking tour that takes in two dozen buildings and houses constructed between 1880 and 1904. The collection is mostly of interest to those fascinated by local history.
Ouray County Museum
Southwest Colorado
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In AD 1270 a catastrophic earth flow moved almost 5 miles down the mountainside and dammed the Gunnison River to form Lake San Cristobal, Colorado’s…
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Installed in the original 1902 San Juan County Jail, the Silverton Museum has an interesting collection of local artifacts and ephemera.
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This is a popular short walk from town, or you can drive to the signposted parking lot off Box Canyon Rd. The waterfall is 285ft high and issues thousands…
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This Smithsonian-affiliated museum features the geologic history of the region as well as background on local mining history and native cultures. While…
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Ridgway was the birthplace of the Rio Grande Southern Railroad, a narrow-gauge rail line that connected to Durango with the ‘Galloping Goose,’ a kind of…
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This mill was once a major employer in Silverton. Stop in to see how miners extracted gold and minerals from the ore. The Aerial Tram House is a highlight…
14.34 MILES
This specialist museum is dedicated to Silverton’s mining history. Old mining equipment is displayed and there’s a re-created machine shop and blacksmith…
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Installed in the original 1902 San Juan County Jail, the Silverton Museum has an interesting collection of local artifacts and ephemera.
22.25 MILES
In AD 1270 a catastrophic earth flow moved almost 5 miles down the mountainside and dammed the Gunnison River to form Lake San Cristobal, Colorado’s…