Volume 5: Telluride/ Ouray/ Ophir
These mountain towns are gems in Southwest Colorado. Telluride and tiny Ophir are in San Miguel County, and Ouray, not far away if unimproved roads aren’t a barrier, is located in Ouray County. Telluride is the most populous (about two thousand residents) and best known of the three, home to a famous ski resort, many well-known music festivals, and exclusive luxury homes. Telluride’s colorful history as a hard-rock mining town where gold, silver, and tellurium were extracted beginning in 1878 changed dramatically in the 1970s when the Telluride Ski Resort opened. Telluride’s elevation is 8,750 feet above sea level, a bit higher than Ouray’s 7,792. (source) Fewer than 1,000 people call Ouray home, but each year many thousands of tourists visit the charming village, nicknamed the “Switzerland of America.” Like most mountain towns in the region, Ouray was founded on mining (gold, in this case), made accessible by the railroad, and popular with visitors. (source) Ophir, Colorado, is the highest in elevation of these three towns at 9,695 feet. Gold was discovered in 1875, and the town was founded in 1881, but the mines decreased until there was only one resident in 1970! Telluride’s popularity in recent has allowed a few hundred residents to call Ophir home. (source)
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- Trout Lake in Winter, Telluride, Colo.
- Dozens of black cattle graze in the grassy valley below a range of snowy mountains, A road cuts up the mountain slope through the dense evergreen forest on the right. Half of the aspens near the river have turned yellow.
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- Trout Lake in the Silver San Juan, Colo., on the Denver and Rio Grande System
- A lake lies between the grassy meadow with a small patch of pine trees and a snowy mountain in the background. Two small cabins can be seen by the lake in front.
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- Trout Lake near Telluride, Colo., 640 acres of water
- Colorized view of Trout Lake, with snow capped mountains on the horizon. Log cabins sit near the lake in the foreground with a wooden shoot extending out to the water's edge. A railroad lined with telegraph poles curves past this mining site.
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- Trout Lake, Colorado
- Trout Lake, near Telluride, Colorado.
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- Trout Lake, Dolores-Telluride HiWay, Montezuma Nat'l Forest (Colo.)
- Lithograph photo print image of a lake surrounded by evergreen forest and mountains. Clouds float above in the sky.
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- Trout Lake, Near Telluride, Colo.
- A panoramic photograph of Trout Lake, near Telluride, Colorado.
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- Tunnel in the Needles, The
- A black and white image of a road running between two steep cliffs that merge together at the exit. Two women are talking to each other outside the tunnel's exit, and a pine tree can be seen above.
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- Tunnel on Million Dollar HiWay
- A dirt road passes through a square tunnel. Ice has frozen in some of the ruts of the road, and two frozen waterfalls can be seen near the tunnel's exit, A real photo black and white postcard, produced during the White Border era.
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- Tunnel on Million Dollar Highway, Ouray, Colo.
- Beyond the road curving left outside of the tunnel, mountain slopes covered with lines of pine trees can be seen. A mountain peak appears in the distance.
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- Tunnel on the Marshall Basin Road (near Telluride, Colo.)
- View of tunnel with fence on the left side man standing the tunnel.
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- Tunnel on the Million Dollar Highway in Uncompahgre Gorge (Colo.)
- Tunnel on the Million Dollar highway (U.S. #550) in Uncompahgre Gorge between Ouray and Silverton, Colorado.
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- Tunnel on the Million Dollar Highway near Ouray, Colo.
- Tunnel on the Million Dollar Highway near Ouray, Colorado.