Are there any ghosttowns around Montrose or Durango (Denver, Delta: ski resort, hotel)

[bossymann]

Are there any old ghosttowns in the western part of Colorado ,I am moving there this fall . I mean the kind that reminds you of the old wild west .Just wondering..thanks!

[CAVA1990]

Durango is in the Southwestern part of the state but to answer your question, yes there are ghost towns around there.

Ghost Towns of Colorado - La Plata County

http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/co/cosanjuan.html

[jim9251]

Animas Forks near Silverton:

Animas Forks, Colorado - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It's just eerie, looks like the people left for the weekend and are coming back at any time.

There's Ophir and Tomboy outside of Telluride, and Red Mountain on Red Mountain HWY 550, there's a lot of old mining camps and towns in Ouray, San Juan and San Miguel Counties.

Not a ghost town, but Fort Uncompehgre in Delta is a historical place, Fort Uncompahgre and the Museum of the Mountain West Museum of the Mountain West, 1840 to 1940. Montrose, Colorado CO on HWY 50 outside of Montrose is pretty cool too.

[jazzlover]

As Jim mentioned, there are a few "ghost towns" with some structures remaining in southwestern Colorado. Unfortunately, the number of former ghost towns with almost no traces left have really become more of the norm in the last 40 years. The mountain environment is very hostile to abandoned structures (not to mention the hazards from slimeballs that will strip weathered wood from structures for decorative purposes), and many of the structures were abandoned between around 1893 and 1920 in many mining towns in Colorado. A lot of places I remember as "ghost towns" with a lot of remaining buildings back in the 1960's and 1970's now have no remaining structures standing. For a graphic illustration of this, read Murielle Sable Wolle's book, "Stampede to Timberline," published in 1949. It included many drawings of ghost town structures that she made in the 1940's. Most of those structures have now disappeared. Same with Robert L. Brown's, "Jeep Trails to Colorado Ghost Towns," published in 1963. Many of the ghost towns and structures described in that book have nearly disappeared, as well.

Personally, I think we are building a whole new set of future ghost towns in Colorado--many of the resort structures and second residences may find the same fate in the future as those mining buildings of the 1880's and 1890's did. The people who built those mining towns thought that the boom would last forever. Quite evidently, it did not. You hear the same hubris out of people today who say that Colorado's recreation boom could never collapse like that. Well, history may not repeat, but it sure is hell usually rhymes. I believe that, eventually, the multi-decade recreation/second home boom will collapse in Colorado (I believe that we are actually in the beginning stages of that collapse right now)--and a half-century from now, somebody will be rummaging around those abandoned buildings wondering how people could fool themselves into thinking that a boom could last forever . . .

[bossymann]

thanks for info,very interesting stuff. I am moving to fruita this fall but will be staying with a friend for a couple of weeks in Montrose first. I don't know that much about the area since I am not from CO but I definitely have to see Durango before I start working. I will google the links you all put up for me .Appreciate it!

[bossymann]

Originally Posted by jim9251

Animas Forks near Silverton:

Animas Forks, Colorado - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It's just eerie, looks like the people left for the weekend and are coming back at any time.

There's Ophir and Tomboy outside of Telluride, and Red Mountain on Red Mountain HWY 550, there's a lot of old mining camps and towns in Ouray, San Juan and San Miguel Counties.

Not a ghost town, but Fort Uncompehgre in Delta is a historical place, Fort Uncompahgre and the Museum of the Mountain West Museum of the Mountain West, 1840 to 1940. Montrose, Colorado CO on HWY 50 outside of Montrose is pretty cool too.

Wow Animas Forks is really s.th. And has elevation over 11 000 feet. Wonder if one gets high altitude sickness driving up there.lol What a cool place!

[Idunn]

Aside from some of the true ghost towns mentioned, there are others that survived and still exist as actual towns.

In the San Juans, Durango is more on the periphery, and was always more a point of supply than a mining camp. But three, very much in the mountains, and very much into mining, are still extant today as small towns. To one degree or another they are still recognizable as they once were, none having grown a great deal, if in imagination one can strip away some of the additions come with the passage of time.

Telluride is probably the most changed, due its rebirth as a ski resort, but as with these two other towns still retains original Victorian structures from its initial once-prosperous past. Of course it is situated in a very striking location, and with some imagination one might in some aspects see it as it was when mining about the only game in town.

In situation Ouray is no less beautiful, and in having adopted a more tranquil sort of tourism, and less growth, perhaps all the easier to see it as it once was. Structures such as the Beaumont Hotel appear outwardly much as they did in their day.

Of late Silverton has seen some development, but it may remain closest to what it once was. The Grand Imperial Hotel, both inside and out, appears at a glance much as it did. Indeed many of the buildings, including the county courthouse, seem to have somehow escaped much of the ravages of time and changing fashion. Not entirely of course, but if visiting in the quieter months, when walking the near empty streets, with the snow falling, and a distant dog barking, one might feel this small town as it was and still an extent remains, flanked as ever on four sides by tall mountains, impassive, high, and cold.

There was once not only the train (still existing) from Durango to Silverton, but also narrow gauge lines built by Otto Mears from Silverton as base to the outlying mining camps, including up over Red Mountain Pass. Although that line reached only to Ironton, as the further steep drop down to Ouray was just too much. But in this it might be seen that even Silverton served in somewhat the same capacity as Durango, as the larger town (relatively), and supply point. As can still be seen, there were mines directly there. But much of the mining was done farther out, and at even greater elevation. Therefore the smaller settlements, such as Animas Forks, and the truly remote elsewhere, like Camp Bird.

Until not that long ago Ouray still served as lower base to active mining far above it. As most of these mines have long since played out, that abandoned to the elements and vicissitude of time have slowly disappeared. In these remote and quiet places one may well see less then what was once there, if some sense in the solitude of what such an existence must have been like.

But the life that was there, if different now in custom and outlook, still does continue in some of these towns that were integral to what existed then. If looked for, they retain elements of that to this day.

[jazzlover]

Most of what Idunn says is accurate. I offer a couple of corrections and additions. Most of the mines around Silverton and Ouray are not "played out"--it is simply uneconomical to mine them at this time. Most ores in the San Juans are lead/zinc ("base metals") ores laced with silver and/or gold (precious metals). The old adage among miners is that "lead and zinc pays the bills and gold and silver are the profit." While the price of silver and gold are currently pretty high, base metals have not increased in price enough to make mining profitable. Add high transportation costs to mill the ore and refine the concentrates, and the economics just aren't there for most deposits. All of that said, there is still exploration going on. I personally know some guys actively exploring in the San Juans.

I agree with Idunn that Silverton probably offers the best "feel" of a turn of the (20th) century mining town. As for the train rides, the Durango & Silverton is a nice trip, but I much prefer the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad (Home :: Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad :: hrm, heritage rail management, narrow gauge, scenic railroad, western railroad, colorado railroad, new mexico railroad, tourist railroad, rocky mountain railroad, steam engine, coal-fired, best tourist rail ) for a more relaxed and authentic train riding experience--if for no other reason than the C&TS does not have to traverse nearly 20 miles of modern resort suburbia crap like the D&S does before one gets into isolated mountain country. Both were originally part of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad's San Juan Extension and I consider both among the premier historically accurate steam passenger train rides in the world.

[bovinedivine]

I tell you whut: I'd be repping Idunn and jazzlover over and over again if I could. Two info-packed posts, as usual! Thx, guys.

[jim9251]

Originally Posted by bossymann

Wow Animas Forks is really s.th. And has elevation over 11 000 feet. Wonder if one gets high altitude sickness driving up there.lol What a cool place!

Sometimes people do. Bring and drinks LOTS of water, take it slow, you'll be fine. Animas Forks is worth the trip.