Two most beautiful mountain towns in Colorado: Telluride and Ouray

Switzerland of USAhttps://www.instagram.com/dreamcatcher_mahdi/

One is ‘Switzerland of USA’ and another one is a harry potter city- yes that is how I love to describe Ouray and Telluride. These two are the most beautiful mountain towns I have ever seen. I visited both towns in winter and the winter beauty of these two mountain towns is hard to describe and you cannot compare each other as both are different and unique in their own way. Telluride is more like a tourist town whereas Ouray is an off-roading paradise.

Telluride

When I first entered the city, it was almost dusk. The light of the houses, the patterns, everything made it look like a harry potter city- a city full of magic. The town has a history of its own. Originally this was an old mining town. It was a center of attraction due to the mining activities around 1875. According to some saying, there was a famous send-off given to the fortune seekers headed to the southern San Juan Mountains- ‘To-hell-you-ride’ and this small mountain town was named after it. Even 30 years ago, the town did not have houses like now and it could not handle larger tourist groups. Now the scenario has changed drastically. It has new housings, new stores, restaurants, and whatnot- everything is there for a perfect gateway. This whole town is even designated as a National Historic Landmark District. There is a whole new village known as ‘Mountain Village’, located 795 feet above Telluride. This placed used to be a mountain ranch and now it is the center of all amazing activities especially during the winter. I loved the happy vibe of Mountain Village. Every year thousands of visitors visit Telluride especially during the winter when ski season starts. Now, Telluride has more than two dozen of hotels, inns, B&B’s, lodges, ice cream parlors, coffee shops, and a lot of different shops where you can stay, shop, and have a meal, coffee with your near and dear ones. If you just walk through the main street, most likely you will get the old west vibe.

Beautiful mountain townhttps://www.instagram.com/dreamcatcher_mahdi/

Telluride and Mountain Village both are connected in two ways. You can take the free gondola ride that runs every day from 7 am to midnight or you can just drive your vehicle and the distance between the two towns is only a 13-minute drive. But I highly recommend the gondola ride. It is one of the things I love about Telluride in winter. You will be moving up in the mountains and the 360 panoramic views is to die for. As you move towards Mountain Village, the houses become tiny and during the sunset time when all the lights are up, it looks wonderful. Apart from sightseeing, there are a lot of activities to do here- numerous trails to explore, hiking alpine goodness, paddle-boarding or kayaking in the lakes nearby, climbing a mountain, cycling the mountain trails, rafting, fishing, etc. Ski during the winter season is extremely popular here. You might not even get a hotel during the ski season if you do not book early. A lot of festivals such as Wild West Fest, Bluegrass Festival, Playwright Festival, Wine Festival, and Jazz Celebrations, etc. take place throughout the year. You will need at least a couple of days to explore Telluride.

Winter Telluridehttps://www.instagram.com/dreamcatcher_mahdi/

Ouray

The town that is known as ‘The Switzerland of America’, you can imagine how beautiful that is going to be. Ouray is also known as the jeep capital of the USA because of the surrounding mountains accessible by the jeep. Can you envision you can visit some of the beautiful 13000 ft high mountains by Jeep! Over 500 miles of accessible four-wheel drive- which means pure off-roading fun for those who enjoy that kind of drive. If you are not comfortable driving those high roads, you can always take many jeep tours available in the area. You can also rent ATV here. I especially love the drive on the Million Dollar Highway, one of the beautiful scenic roads I have ever driven. The Winter beauty of Ouray is breathtaking. It’s hard to believe that you are still in the states but feeling like you are in Switzerland. The town is small but nice. We stayed at a hotel near the Uncompahgre River. It was so amazing to stay there with a view of the mountain fully covered with snow and a partially frozen river. Some must-visit places in the town are -old buildings from the 1880s including the Ouray County Courthouse, St. John’s Episcopal Church, etc., and the largest pharmacy museum in Colorado.

Box Canyon Falls, Ouray-Coloradohttps://www.instagram.com/dreamcatcher_mahdi/

You should also visit Box Canyon Falls Park and Ouray Ice Park which are close to the town. In Box Canyon Falls Park, there is a huge waterfall nestled inside the mountain that falls into Uncompahgre Gorge. Even in winter, the waterfall was partially frozen, but the water was still flowing. You can take the high bridge trail which is 200ft above the gorge from where you can get a spectacular view of the town and surroundings. Don’t forget to visit the Ouray Ice Park located next to the falls, which is famous for ice climbing. The Annual International Climbing Competition takes place here in this park. There is a lot of ghost town such as Ironton, Animas Fork, Alta, Red Mountain Town, etc. nearby, which you can include as a part of your trip. The activities you can do here are a lot- hiking, biking, fishing, rafting, rock climbing, zip-lining, mine tours, ice climbing (in winter), etc. Once you are done with the activities, you can relax in the hot spring that was opened in 1927 and contain more than one million gallons of natural spring water with temperatures ranging from 80 to 106 degrees.

Overall, one thing I can assure, Colorado beauties will never disappoint you. If you are into the wilderness or nature, this is your place to visit.

Gondola ride in Telluride, COhttps://www.instagram.com/dreamcatcher_mahdi/

Source

Ouray | Visit Telluride

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