Telluride

The Telluride Ski Resort offers more than 2,000 acres of skiable terrain that are relatively uncrowded. The base is in Telluride at 8,725 feet, and lifts run as high as 12,570 feet, though ambitious skiers can hike two hours to the top of Palmyra Peak at 13,150 feet.

By John Leach Most of Telluride was designated a National Historic Landmark District in 1961 because of Telluride’s role as a frontier town and precious metals mining district and its “19th century western mining ‘boom town’” architecture. The district covers several residential neighborhoods, a commercial street, a warehouse area, and a bordello district. There are 305 historic buildings, including 160 single-family homes, 16 business/retail establishments, three hotels, six saloons, four…

The Telluride Historical Museum offers exhibits on Telluride’s history. Its rarest piece is a cotton weaving from the Anasazi culture.

By John Leach The Telluride Film Festival was created by local residents in 1974 and drew immediate attention by honoring not only director Francis Ford Coppola and actress Gloria Swanson but also the Nazi documentary filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl. The Telluride festival has continued to draw top Hollywood movies and stars, as well as hard-core film fans, thanks to a Labor Day weekend schedule that falls conveniently between the Cannes Film…

By John Leach Telluride’s valley was used by the Ute or Nuchu tribe for centuries as a summer camp and a hunting ground for deer, wild turkey and grouse. The nomadic Utes, hunter-gatherers who roamed the Western Slope starting around 1000 A.D., would head to valleys at lower elevations with milder weather for the winter. Spanish explorers in the Dominguez-Escalante Expedition passed by Telluride in 1776 and named many of…