Ouray, Colorado Ouray, Colorado Ouray, Colorado looking north from Highway 550 Ouray, Colorado looking north from Highway 550 Location in Ouray County and the State of Colorado Location in Ouray County and the State of Colorado County Ouray County Seat Website www.ci.ouray.co.us City of Ouray Ouray / j re / is a Home Rule Municipality that is the governmental center of county and the most crowded city of Ouray County, Colorado, United States. The town/city population was 813 at the U.S.
Enumeration 2010. The Ouray Post Office has the ZIP code 81427.
Ouray, Colorado in 1901 In 1877, William Weston and George Barber found the Gertrude and Una gold veins in Imogene Basin, six miles south southwest of Ouray.
The town after changing its name and that of the county it was in a several times was incorporated on October 2, 1876, titled after Chief Ouray of the Utes, a Native American tribe.
By 1877 Ouray had grown to over 1,000 in populace and was titled governmental center of county of the newly formed Ouray County on March 8, 1877.
The Beaumont Hotel and the Ouray City Hall and Walsh Library are listed on the National Register of Historic Places individually, while the Ouray County Courthouse, St.
Joseph's Miners' Hospital (currently housing the Ouray County Historical Society and Museum), Western Hotel, and Wright's Opera House are encompassed in the historic district.
Ouray is positioned at 38 1 24 N 107 40 20 W (38.023217, 107.672178), in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado.
Ouray is connected to Silverton and then Durango to the south by Red Mountain Pass which crests at just over 11,000 feet (3,400 m).
Climate data for Ouray, Colorado Ouray City Hall and fire station Ouray bills itself as the "Switzerland of America" because of its setting at the narrow head of a valley, enclosed on three and a half sides by steep mountain peaks.
Ouray has also turn into a prominent destination for motorcyclists, as it marks the beginning of the Million Dollar Highway.
This stretch of highway joins Ouray to its neighboring metros/cities of Silverton and Durango.
The Million Dollar Highway is incessantly regarded as one of the most beautiful roads in Colorado, but is also considered one of the most dangerous due to its sharp turns, steep ledges, and lack of guard rails. Popular destinations include Yankee Boy Basin, Engineer Mountain, and Black Bear Road.
Ouray is the winter ice-climbing capital of the U.S. The world's first ice climbing park, expanding on previously-popular natural falls, consists of dozens of frozen waterfalls from 80 to 200 feet (61 m) high farmed along more than a mile of the Uncompahgre Gorge.
The Ouray Ice Park is no-charge and attracts climbers from around the world.
There are five small-town advanced hot springs in Ouray and close-by Ridgway.
These include the Ouray Hot Springs Pool, the vapor caves of the Wiesbaden Hot Springs Spa & Lodgings, the pools at the Twin Peaks Lodge & Hot Springs and at the naturally landscaped pools at Orvis Hot Springs in Ridgway.
There are various waterfalls along the road from Durango to Ouray, and inside the town/city limits there are two waterfalls inside easy reach.
Box Canyon Falls is at the southwest edge of Ouray.
Like most suburbs in the Colorado mountain peaks, Ouray was originally a quarrying town.
The biggest and most famous mine is the Camp Bird Mine, the second biggest gold mine in Colorado, established by Thomas Walsh in 1896. Even though there was an operation permit filed in 2007, the mine still remains inactive. During its lifespan, the mine produced about 1.5 million troy ounces of gold, and 4 million troy ounces of silver, from 1896 to 1990. In 1995 the old milling equipment "The Crusher" was disassembled and sold to a lesser mine positioned in Mongolia where it directed for about two years. The vacant mine can be seen on the steep 2 - WD road dominant to the 4 - WD roads to Yankee Boy Basin and Imogene Pass.
US 550 is the only paved road into or out of Ouray.
550 begins roughly 40 miles (64 km) north of Ouray in Montrose.
550 that runs south from Ouray to Silverton is known as the Million Dollar Highway.
Travelers should take caution when adventuring to the isolated town of Ouray, Colorado.
Ouray County Courthouse where scenes from True Grit were filmed in 1968 In the fall of 1968 the film True Grit was filmed in Ouray County, including some scenes in the town/city of Ouray and the close-by town of Ridgway and, most prominently, the interior of the Ouray County Court House.
Galt's Gulch was inspired by Ouray, where Rand found inspiration to complete the novel, though she greatly period the small valley to include her many ideas for the story. The Netflix initial series The Ranch, starring Ashton Kutcher, Danny Masterson, Sam Elliott and Debra Winger is set in the fictional town of Garrison, Colorado, but the opening shot of the town amid the credit sequence is of Ouray, and the San Juan Valley just north of Ouray.
Ouray County, Colorado Communities of Ouray County State of Colorado, Department of Personnel & Administration, Colorado State Archives.
Colorado Trend Report 2: State and Complete Places (Sub-state 2010 Enumeration Data).
Voynick, S.M., 1992, Colorado Gold, Missoula: Mountain Press Publishing Company, ISBN 0878 - 424555 "Ouray, Colorado Climate Summary 1948-2005".
Camp Bird Mine, Ouray, Sneffels District (Mount Sneffels District), Ouray Co., Colorado, USA That is the little town [Ouray] I had picked for Galt's Gulch..." Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ouray, Colorado.
City of Ouray website CDOT map of the City of Ouray Municipalities and communities of Ouray County, Colorado, United States
Categories:
Cities in Ouray County, Colorado - County seats in Colorado - Mining communities in Colorado - San Juan Mountains (Colorado)Hot springs of Colorado - Landforms of Ouray County, Colorado - Cities in Colorado
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