“The Switzerland of America”

Ouray is our favorite stop on our Road Scholar tour, and we’re glad to have two nights here. It’s a small place — the population was 1,033 in 2016 — but has much to offer for tourists, now its main industry.

All of Main Street, a portion of which you see here, is registered as a National Historic District. Most of the buildings date back to the late 19th century. Ouray sits at nearly 8,000 feet (2,438 meters) elevation, surrounded on three sides by the San Juan mountains of southwest Colorado, many of which are at 13,000 feet (3,962 meters).

It was established by miners seeking gold and silver in those mountains. At one point, there were more than 30 active mines here. Not much gold was found, but there was plenty of silver.

Ouray was Incorporated in 1876, named after Chief Ouray of the Utes, Native Americans who have lived in what is now Colorado and Utah for centuries. We’ll visit the Ute Indian Museum in Montrose on our last Road Scholar day.

(This is a backblip — our days are so full that it’s been impossible to blip daily. I’m grateful for your comments, stars, and hearts, and will catch up on your journals once we’re home.)

Blip 1962