The Western Slope south of Grand Junction transitions from towering mountains on the east to the Uncompahgre Plateau to the west. Our path roughly heads south along the Uncompahgre River to the town of Ridgway before climbing over the eastern San Juan Mountains to the edge of the southwestern plains at Durango.
Heading south from Grand Junction the road crosses a broad plain before dropping down to the Uncompahgre River Valley near the town of Delta.
The Uncomapghre carves a canyon to the west while providing irrigation to the farms alongside.
The town of Montrose is the largest commercial center south of Grand Junction and here we take a brief detour to visit the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, about 15 miles east of Montrose.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison River National Park
Leaving Hwy 50 the park the road climbs steeply up from the valley floor. A look out the back shows Montrose hidden in the haze far below.
The Gunnison River rises in central Colorado, flowing west before turning north in the canyon towards its confluence with the Upper Colorado at Grand Junction. The area was first explored in the 1850’s by John Gunnison during his search for a railroad passage through the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific. Millions of years go the western slope of the Rockies was interrupted by a bulge of extremely resistant rock. Over the ensuing eons the river has carved a path through the dome reaching depths of 1,800 feet below the canyon rim. The landscape rolls towards the mountains with no hint of the chasm just beyond the bushes lining the road.
Tomichi Point is our first opportunity for a dramatic gaze into the canyon.
This is also my first opportunity to experience the crowded conditions at the various viewpoints along the canyon rim, parking the Lunch Box is going to be a problem… Driving on through the trees on this side of the canyon the hills on the other side rise in front of the Rocky Mountains. Again no clue that between the trees and the hill is a 1,800’ deep canyon.
Our best opportunity to see into the chasm is at Pulpit Rock, a thin finger of stone that juts out from the canyon wall.
Out on Pulpit Rock is the first time we can actually see the river at the bottom of the canyon. Note that the walls on the north side are virtually sheer while the canyon walls on the south slope more gently. This is a function of geography and weather. In the winter when the sun is low in the southern sky the snow that falls melts more quickly on the north side with little erosion of the rock. Snow on the southern side does not and so freezes and refreezes over the winter. The action breaks down the rock more quickly and thus creates the gentle southern slope.
Driving further north up the west side of the canyon virtually all of the viewpoints are full of vehicles so I can’t stop. An informal wide spot on the road does allow me to look east across the canyon to the main Rocky Mountains and then north up towards the end of the canyon and the Grand Valley nearly 60 miles in the distance.
Turning around and heading back to Montrose I pause at an interesting reconstruction of a historic Western Slope town at the Museum of the Mountain West.
Museum of the Mountain West
The entrance hall to the museum is a rather unassuming metal building that gives no hint of the treasures within.
The interior is a recreation of a frontier main street presented in a modern day “mall” format.
Each business is crammed with original items from the Western Slope. A sample of the businesses include a doctor’s office, drugstore and saloon.
Outside a walking tour of “Adobe Flats”, as the town is called, takes one around the reconstruction of a small town containing both original and reconstructed buildings from around the Western Slope.
Just as within the “mall” displays, these buildings are furnished with original items from the period (though not necessarily original to the actual building.) The General Store is well-equipped!
The sheriff’s office and jail stands on a corner across from the grandest building in town, the hotel.
A residential street stretches east towards the school.
Behind the hotel is the 1913 German Lutheran Church.
Completing the walk around the central block, a boardwalk takes us past a number of interesting original buildings, including the 1882 Montrose Train Depot.
The two buildings in this picture were built 50 years apart. On the left is the 1882 Colorow Section House, on the right is the 1938 Dick Halls cabin.
The section house was built by the railroad in 1882 north of Montrose to house maintenance workers. It also served as the first post office in the area.
This rugged land was not settled quickly, the cabin on the right in this picture was built in 1938 in the nearby mountains by a man named Dick Halls, who lived in it until his death.
The most interesting aspect of the Museum of the West was not the buildings themselves, but the incredible detailed collections of memorabilia that they contain. Truly a great example of a community-supported museum! Leaving Montrose hints of the next portion of our journey south through the Western Slope loom on the horizon. It’s all about the mountains!
The Million Dollar Highway
The main Rocky Mountain Range splinters in central Colorado, with various mountain ranges heading off in a maze of different directions. As we head south from Montrose up the Uncompahgre River Valley the mountains rise on both sides and in front of us with numerous peaks well over 10,000 feet piercing the sky.
The small village of Ridgeway is the starting point for a dramatic stretch of Hwy 550. This narrow two-lane road twists and climbs up and over the San Juan Mountains in a treacherous ribbon of asphalt, often with no guard rails and precipitous drops thousands of feet to the canyon floor below. I have driven this highway once before and know that it is a difficult drive in a motorhome, though the payoff is a stunning experience. I am particularly nervous this day as menacing thunderstorms are sweeping across southern Colorado. Joey and I stop for a long lunch in Ridgway as the skies to the south up the canyon are a menacing sight.
The storm eventually blows by and we set out up the canyon. Abrams Mountain rises 12,801 feet directly in front of us, its peak still shrouded in clouds.
The San Juan Mountains were a hub of mining activity in the late 1800’s/early 1900’s. At one time more than 30 active gold and silver mines operated in the region at the head of the canyon. The town of Ouray, named after Chief Ouray of the Ute Native American Tribe, was incorporated at the base of Abrams Mountain in 1876.
The Denver & Rio Grande Railway arrived in Ouray from the north in 1887 and operated until the rail line between Ouray and Ridgway was abandoned in 1953. Hwy 550 through town serves as the main street and is lined with buildings from the boom years of the late 1800’s.
Immediately at the southern edge of the town the highway begins to climb a series of very tight switchbacks up the canyon wall. The stretch of highway between Ouray and Silverton is called “The Million Dollar Highway”. Legend has it that during a planning meeting for the conversion of what was still a stagecoach road to a modern paved highway one of the engineers estimated that it would cost a million dollars per mile, and thus the moniker “Million Dollar Highway” was born. Five switchbacks up the canyon wall a pull-out allows me the opportunity to take a picture north down the canyon over Ouray towards Ridgway.
The narrow road continues to twist and turn up the mountain sides with stunning views with the occasional straight passage providing relief from the steering wheel gripping challenge.
Red Mountain emerges from the mist and evidence of past mining dots the canyon.
Once over Red Mountain Pass (11,018 feet) we experience the adage “what goes up must come down” as the highway plummets down the other side through a stair-step of narrow valleys and steep switchbacks.
Deep in a bowl in the middle of the San Juan Mountains is the small village of Silverton.
Silverton
Silverton, the only incorporated town in San Juan County, was established along the Animas River in the center of a rich silver mining area in 1874. Three box canyons, all rich with gold and silver, come together in a bowl surrounded by soaring mountain peaks on all sides (seven of them over 13,000 feet tall). Silverton was a center for mining until the last mine in the area closed in 1992. Two booms, the first a silver boom that collapsed in 1893 and then a subsequent gold boom that ended with a recession in 1907, shaped the development of the town. The approximately 600 current permanent residents of the town are dependent upon tourism as the major economic driver for the area. A major contributor to the town’s well-being is the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad that runs from Silverton through the stunning (and otherwise inaccessible) Animas River Canyon to Durango. It brings hordes of tourists to Silverton for a day trip. I happen to see this phenomenon firsthand since I arrived in Silverton just a half hour before the train left on the day’s return trip to Durango. You can see the difference in the pictures, those taken when I first arrived shows throngs of tourists on the streets, those later show the sparse numbers remaining. Hwy 50 runs past Silverton, one turns off and heads east to town.
Two cupolas tower above the far end of town. The first is the 1907 San Juan County Courthouse, built just before the gold boom ended. The second is the Silverton Town Hall, completed in 1908.
The Grand Imperial Hotel (completed in 1882) dominates the north side of the main street, which is lined with commercial structures an both sides built from around 1880-1910.
A couple of blocks south of the main street is the depot for the tourist train. People are scurrying to get on board as it gets ready for the afternoon departure for Durango.
As I get ready to leave Silverton, I can see the narrow line of Hwy 550 climbing up the canyon wall to the west as it begins the trek up to Coal Creek Pass, 10,610 feet above sea level, before descending back down to the Animas River just north of Durango.
Climbing up towards the pass stunning views, near and far, open up before the eye.
For the second time we experience the “what goes up must come down” as once over the next pass the highway plunges to the Animas River Valley floor. The afternoon sun is playing tricks on my camera…
Finally, we reach the valley floor and approach the town of Durango.
Durango
Durango was founded in 1881 by the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad as it prepared to build tracks north up the Animas River Canyon to service the silver and gold mines of Silverton. The product of the mines could then be shipped down to Durango and east through Alamosa to reach the outside world. For the next 50 years Durango flourished as the railroads were really the only economical way to ship goods in and out of remote southwestern Colorado. A bustling downtown area quickly grew up along the steep slope on the eastern bank of the river alongside the railroad tracks. Most of the major buildings along Main Street were completed within ten years of the arrival of the railroad.
The crown jewel of Main Street is the Strater Hotel, completed in 1887 two blocks north of the railroad tracks.
Several other grand buildings punctuate Main Street north.
The economy of Durango shifted from serving the mining industry to tourism in the middle of the 20th century. The importance of the railroads dwindled with the final blow being the Denver and Rio Grande ending freight traffic in 1968. Now the narrow-gauge tourist train up the Animas Canyon to Silverton is the remaining operating train in the area. Mesa Verde National Park is about an hour to the west, the outdoors paradise of the San Juan Mountains is all around, and the tourist train to Silverton all ensure a vibrant tourist economy for the area.
Next up: The Upper Rio Grande Valley