Everything about The San Juan Mountains totally explained
The
San Juan Mountains are a rugged
mountain range in the
Rocky Mountains in southwestern
Colorado. The area is highly
mineralized (the
Colorado Mineral Belt) and figured in the
gold and
silver mining industry of early Colorado. Major towns, all old mining camps, include
Creede,
Lake City,
Silverton,
Ouray, and
Telluride. Large scale mining is now uneconomical in the region, although independent prospectors still work claims throughout the range. The last large scale holdouts were the Standard Metals operation on
Red Mountain Pass which operated until late in the 20th century and the ill-fated
Summitville mine on the eastern slope of the San Juans.
The Summitville mine was the scene of a major environmental disaster in the 1990s when the hastily installed liner of a
cyanide-laced
tailing pond began leaking heavily. Summitville is in the Summitville
caldera, one of many extinct
volcanoes making up the
San Juan volcanic field. One, the
La Garita Caldera, is in diameter. Large beds of
lava, some extending under the floor of the
San Luis Valley, are characteristic of the eastern slope of the San Juans.
There is some tourism in the region, with the
narrow gauge railway between
Durango and Silverton being an attraction in the summer.
Jeeping is popular on the old trails which linked the historic mining camps, particularly thrilling is the
Black Bear Road. Visiting old
ghost towns is popular, as are wilderness trekking and
mountain climbing. The San Juans are extremely steep; only Telluride has made the transition to
ski resort. Purgatory (now known as
Durango Mountain Resort) is a small ski area north of Durango near the Tamarron Resort. There is also skiing on
Wolf Creek Pass at the
Wolf Creek ski area. Recently Silverton Mountain ski area has begun operation in Silverton. It is a highly rated extreme ski area and is currently available by reservation only.
The
Rio Grande rises on the east side of the range. The other side of the San Juans, the western slope of the
continental divide, is drained by tributaries of the
San Juan,
Dolores and
Gunnison rivers, which all flow into the
Colorado River.
The
San Juan and
Uncompahgre National Forests cover a large portion of the San Juan Mountains.
Prominent peaks
Further Information
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