In Telluride .net

About Telluride, Colorado

Location

Telluride, Colorado is a truly unique community.  Located in beautiful southwestern Colorado, in the western San Juan mountains.  Telluride is located near the headwaters of the San Miguel River in a box canyon.

The community

Telluride is actually comprised of two towns.  The Town of Telluride is the original victorian mining town nestled in the San Juan mountains in Colorado.  It was a thriving mining commuinity since the 1800's until the 1950's when the mining died.  It began to recover with the building of the Telluride ski resort in the 1970's.  The town has a colorful history.

The Town of Mountain Village began with the building of the ski area.  It is located on the southwest side of of the ski mountain which divides the two towns.  The first ski lifts were built where Mountain Village eventually developed.

There is a unique, gondola system that connects the two towns.  While many ski areas have gondolas that serve only for uphill transportation of skiers the Telluride gondola is a free public transportation system.  Only skiers and snowboarders pay to use the gondola to access the slopes for recreation.

Climate

Telluride has a typical Colorado mountain climate though somewhat milder than most Colorado ski towns.  Significant differences occur between daytime highs and nighttime lows.  Average snowfall on the ski mountain is about 300" per year.  August has frequent afternoon thunder storms that occur in the afternoons.  Mountain activities are best done in the morning during the summer.

Nearby

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park (70 miles)

Ridgway State Park (45 miles)

Historic Ouray (50 miles on paved roads, maybe 12 by 4x4)

Historic Silverton (70 miles on paved roads, maybe 30 by 4x4)

Montrose (65 miles)

Cortez (60 miles)