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Ouray

Some call the mountain town of Ouray the Switzerland of America, as it’s situated in a river valley at nearly 8,000 feet, surrounded by the snow-capped San Juan Mountains. You almost expect to hear yodeling echo from these high hills.

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Two people ride ATVs on a rocky trail that winds over rolling hills in Engineer Pass near Ouray, Colorado.
ATV trail on Engineer Pass near Ouray
Three hot air balloons decorated soar above an evergreen covered valley with snowcapped mountains in the distance. One balloon is blue, red, yellow and green stripes. One is yellow with fall leaves on it. And the other is black and white with a face on it.
Balloons near Ouray
An aerial view of the town of Ouray with golden aspens and green trees. In the distance rock-mountain walls rise up in the distance. The sky is blue with clouds.
Ouray
Four hot air balloons rise up into a blue, cloudy sky over a green-grass field with mountains in the distance.
Ouray
Downtown Ouray with a brick Richardson-Romanesque building on one corner and a red-roofed building on the other. In the background mountains covered in green trees with exposed stone walls rise up in a blue sky with white clouds.
Ouray
A solo ice climber climbs up a rock face with frozen, white ice structures.
Ouray
A snow-covered Ouray from above with snow-dusted mountains with exposed rock faces and evergreen trees sit under a blue sky.
Ouray
Surrounded by green trees and mountains, the Ouray Hot Springs Pool are crowded with people swimming in teal waters.
Ouray Hot Springs Pool
A yellow open-air tour bus sits on a rocky viewpoint with people looking out at Rocky Mountain tops with a blue sky and white clouds.
A four-wheel tour of the San Juan Mountains near Ouray
A line of off-roading jeeps sits on a rocky path with snowcapped mountains.
Four wheeling on Engineer Pass near Ouray
People wade in the steaming Ouray Hot Springs Pool with a backdrop of snow-covered mountains.
Soothing muscles in the Ouray Hot Springs Pool
An ice climber in a green jacket with black pants climbs up bright-white ice structures.
Ice climbing in Ouray
A solo ice climber makes their way up bright-white ice sculptures on a sand-colored rock face.
Ice climbing in Ouray

Established in the late 1870s during gold and silver strikes, Ouray survived those boom-and-bust days because it's such a wonderful place to relax. Natural hot springs feed the Ouray Hot Springs, where both locals and visitors come to soak in the therapeutic waters. It's said that Chief Ouray, the Ute Indian after whom the town is named, visited the pool often and held ceremonies in the local vapor cave.

Several waterfalls make for spectacular photos, and a popular activity for visitors is to take a short hike down to Box Canyon Falls, where the water thunders 285 feet from top to basin into a narrow canyon. The town's canyons, in fact, provide the location for one of the most popular winter events: ice climbing. Each January, Ouray proudly hosts the Ouray Ice Festival at the Ouray Ice Park, which features the easy access climbers relish.

Surrounded by deciduous trees such as quaking aspen and evergreens scrub oaks, the town also becomes a spectacularly colored canvas each autumn, drawing visitors who want a closer look at the brilliant foliage. The scenery, the sky-scraping San Juan Mountain peaks and a network of old mining routes are reasons the town is popular with off-roaders, Jeep tours and other backcountry lovers. The San Juan Skyway Scenic & Historic Byway is another popular way to see the area.

A tour of the Bachelor-Syracuse Mine offers a look at what it was like to be a miner, as do displays at the local museum. One may also enjoy a historic tour either by carriage or walking with a ghostly tour guide.

Historic buildings, a wide range of affordable and comfortable lodgings (some with their own hot spring pools), unique artisan shops and galleries, and delicious, diverse restaurants (and the beloved Mouse's Chocolates) keep visitors coming back.

Read a Ouray, Silverton, Telluride & Pagosa Springs Itinerary.

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