Ouray, Colorado

RAS43 wrote:

Jay Pat wrote:


To compliment the mining exhibit at the Ouray museum, there is a real mine tour just south of Ouray on the right side (look for small sign).

In Ridgway (about 5 miles south of Ouray) there is a small railroad museum. They are expecting a brand new replica steam locomotive.
Pat

Ridgway is North of Ouray as is the mine tour. And they are worth a visit IMO. South of Ouray is Red Mountain Pass, a beautiful drive, especially in the fall.

Nuts!
My mistake.
Thanks for the correction.
Pat

4runnerguy wrote:
How long are you there? I could give you two weeks worth of stuff pretty easily.

With your 4x4, you can get quite a ways up Yankee Boy Basin SW of Ouray. Amazing wildflower displays. Usually I recommend July, but it's been such a low snow year, I'm guessing June will be great.

As mentioned, you can also get to Animas Forks above Silverton without problem. Interesting ghost town that they have started work on preserving some of the houses.

Like hiking? Park just past the first tunnel out of Ouray and hike the Mineral Creek Trail. An old trail the miners used to access workings up the drainage. Etched right into the side of the mountain. Check it out on Google Street view, as someone hiked the trail with one of their 360 cameras on their back. The first mile or so are the most unique, although the flowers are better further up.

A day trip to Telluride is worth the time, even if the town itself has gotten way too "Aspenized" if you know what I mean. At the roundabout when you get into town, take the first right and you'll find a big parking lot four or five blocks down on the right. From there, you can catch one of the free shuttle buses around town. There's a free gondola from Telluride up to Mountain Village. We've only used it to get our mountain bikes up the hill so we really haven't poked around Mountain Village much. But the views alone make the ride well worth your time (and you can't beat the cost!)

Do continue through Telluride and check out Bridal Veil Falls. You can hike to the power station if you have the lungs and legs for it.

As noted, don't miss the Ouray Pool. Just remodeled in the last year or so. We haven't been there since, but it's always been one of our favorites.

Read what Ken said in a much older post
https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/22408872/gotomsg/22439898.cfm#22439898
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:W

Ouray -- one of our favorite places for lots of reasons. We go from 7 days to maybe 14-16 days in Sept and hunt for gold. Nuggets? No, aspen! I do a lot of photography and that is prime time - but anytime is great.

We stay at the KOA - do not recommend the 4J+1 -- nice advantage of being in town but spacing & roads very tight. The KOA gets very high ratings and deservedly so.

Not going to start yet another discussion on driving Hwy 550 from Ouray to Silverton. I do not recommend it with an RV at all and for drivers who are mountain driving experienced. Good 2 lane road but sections with no shoulder, no guard rail and straight down. Yes, maybe you will be fine but how about the guy coming against you who isn't and takes his half out of the middle?

That being said, it is one of the most beautiful drives you will ever take.

We will be in Ouray for 10 days in Sept again this year.

Lots of great advice. We had a great time in Ouray back in 2011. Some of the unpaved roads we took with our Jeep would be fine for your pickup, but a few might be a bit tight in the turns for you. I'm sure 4runnerguy and others more familiar with that area could advise you on that.

So many beautiful places out there, hard to narrow it down. We haven't been back yet, but plan to. Maybe next year.

Have fun and travel safe.

I appreciate all the suggestions! We are looking forward to getting there and taking in as many of the sites as we can.

Just a heads up...
There's fire about 10 miles north of Durango, so the Durango to Silverton train has been suspended through June 17. Also note that US 550 is closed at night.

If you have time, check out the Rim Rocker trail from Montrose to Moab!

Latest report is fire may not be contained until the end of June. Travel has been limited on US 550, at some times extremely limited with escort vehicles and closure due to evacuation. Strongly urge you check locally - there have been some mandatory evacuations for residents near Hermosa. The steam train is NOT running and no date for returning to service has been established.

Strongly suggest avoiding Durango/Silverton/Ouray completely - local lodging and campsites may be filled with displaced residents.

Additional information - see www.durangoherald.com

A big highlight of our visit was the Box Canyon with easy trails and handrails. An easy walk from the 4J RV park.
Ouray Box Canyon

We don’t travel with a toad, so loved our stay at that park along the river. Great location. It was just a couple of blocks to the Main Street, with stores, bakeries and restaurants. Lots of Rocky Mountain town atmosphere.

2Fliers wrote:
Just a heads up...
There's fire about 10 miles north of Durango, so the Durango to Silverton train has been suspended through June 17. Also note that US 550 is closed at night.

Thanks for the head's up! I called my campground to confirm my reservation and check if there were any concerns.... We're good to go, looking forward to Ouray on Monday!

I like the KOA there. Ridgeway is nice too. Haven't been to 4J but I think it is in town and seemed a little tight.

I did rent a jeep and I'll never do it again, I was way out of my league even on the mildest trails. I do enjoy riding motorcycles on mountain roads.