Ouray and the Beaumont Hotel

Just a few miles down the road from Ridgway, is the beautiful mountain gulch town of Ouray.  A gulch is a narrow steep ravine and that is pretty much where Ouray is situated. It’s high up in the northern part of the San Juan Mountains sitting at 7,800 ft. The setting looks like something from the Alps, which explains how it got its name as the Switzerland of America.

Ouray is another small former mining town. The key mineral was silver then gold. There were 30 mines in Ouray at the height of the mining craze. Now, it’s a tourist town but still small with only about 800 residents.

It doesn’t have the upscale resort feeling of Telluride. It’s smaller and has a more touristy feel as a gateway to a great scenic roadway – The San Juan Scenic Byway otherwise known as the Million Dollar Highway.

The setting of the town is dramatic. Steep canyon walls rise up behind the main street buildings. It’s not a level place as the whole town seems to rise up towards Red Mountain Pass and the canyon walls. And not all the streets are paved; just the main road (Route 550) through town.

It was a little bit of a challenge to find a level place to park my RV.  I did find an unmetered spot on the southern end of Main Street that was out of the way with no other cars around.  We walked around for a few blocks, but as I was walking back to the RV, I saw a police office about to write me a ticket.  He said I was taking up two places and needed to move, which I quickly did to avoid the ticket.  I guess RV’s aren’t welcome on Main Street in Ouray.  Here as some pictures I took on our brief visit.

There are a few compact RV parks on the entry to the town along the Uncompahgre River. In addition to the views and the road, another big attraction is the Ouray Hot Springs, that sits at the northern end of town. It is a natural hot springs. Unlike the smaller more private intimate setting of the Orvis Hot Springs, the Ouray Hot Springs has the feel of a large municipal swimming pool. For $12 you can enjoy the various pools. It was a nice day and we wanted to try the park, but the place was packed with people, and we found no places to park the RV. It was ok as I felt we probably had a better experience at the Orvis Hot Springs.

Unlike most visitors to Ouray who pass through on their way down or up the Million Dollar Highway, we decided to avoid a trip down this road.  It was in my original plan to take this road down to Silverton. I had researched various forums about driving an RV on this road. My guess is that about 80% of what I read said it would be fine.

But then I talked face to face with some who had done it. Going south, the southbound lane is the outer lane that has the sheer drop offs and no guard rails. A fellow I talked to in Gunnison drove the southbound lane in his 38 ft Class A. He said his arms where clenched tight the whole way and that he had to lay down and have a drink afterwards to calm down. “Never again”, where his parting words to me.

While sitting in the hot springs at Orvis Hot Springs, I talked to a local couple who drive it all the time. My son casually asked them “Have there been many accidents on the road?” Expecting them to say no, it’s pretty safe, they said “Oh yah, there’s crashes all time! Honey, remember that time Linda’s kid went off the road?” You can call me chicken shit, but that was enough to convince me and my son to find another way. Here’s a couple of pictures of the highway just south of Ouray. The black and white is an early photo of the original road.  Today’s route has been paved and made just a bit wider by blasting into the mountain, but the drop offs and edges are still there.

Original road to Ouray built by Otto Mears in 1883

Current Route 550 near Ouray

I like scenic roads, but it’s no fun when you have to keep your eyes glued on the double yellow lines, worry about crashing, and miss all the scenery. From Ridgway, we decided to take Route 62 over the Dallas Divide, then go down Route 145 to Delores, and then take Route 160 into Durango. It was an extra 60 miles, but I’m glad I did it. I avoided fraying my nerves and instead I learned some great info / history about the mining railroads at the Galloping Goose Rail Road Museum in Delores. More about this in my next post.