Overview

Telluride is a horsey town where jean jackets and cowboy boots still outnumber swanky designer clothes and Prada shoes. Still, Telluride has been discovered, and if you think "Aspen," you won't be far off.

There's only one road leading into this southwestern Colorado box canyon, a factor outlaws and people who love Telluride have always found favorable to life here. Being at the end of a road less traveled means the crowds are thinner; it's easier to get a drink at the bar and you might feel less crowded and more at home here than you do at the bigger, posher mountains.

Driving into this little mining town for the first time is a treat. You're deep in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado. Enter the valley and look up at the mountains surrounding the town, still touched by snow.

The streets are lined with row after row of old, brightly painted Victorians. Peer into a backyard and you might see an old mining shack, leaning a little but still hanging in there after 100 years of Colorado winters.

Telluride got its start in 1880. At the height of the gold rush, nearly 5,000 people lived here. The town motto was "Town without a Bellyache."  More than $360 million of gold was pulled out of Telluride's mines by 1904 and there were more millionaires living there (per capita) than in New York.

The money brought bandits like  Butch Cassidy, who walked out of the San Miguel Valley Bank with $24,580 in 1889. They never did find that money. It has also been said that a ramshackle cabin at Ute Park Chair 10 in Prospect Bowl, near the bottom, is where Butch dodged the law after the San Miguel stick-em-up.

Make sure to take a good, long look at Telluride's old Opera House, hotels, banks, saloons, and restaurants if you have an interest in days gone by. Most of which have been completely renovated but still retain their Western facades.

Mining in the area played out in 1953. Families left town and Telluride was left to die on the vine.  Joe Zoline, an entrepreneur from the West Coast, saw its potential and the first five lifts were up and running by 1972. 

Take the gondola over the mountain to the Mountain Village side and plenty of trails for hiking and biking. The gondola runs from 7 a.m. to midnight and it is free to everyone. Both bikes and dogs are allowed on the gondola.

Not much of a need for a car here. In Telluride, you are almost able to walk everywhere you need to go. In fact, the town is only eight blocks wide and 12 blocks long.

You can fly directly into Telluride (TEX) from Denver (United or Great Lakes) and Phoenix (America West Express). You also can fly to the nearby town of Montrose (MJT-American, America West, Continental, United), which is 65 miles north.

Shuttles are available from all of the nearby airports: Telluride Express (888-212-TAXI or 970-728-6000); Alpine Luxury Limo (877-728-8750); and Mountain Limo (888-LIMOTXI or 970-728-9606).