Touring

Jeep Tours: The Way to See Ouray, Colorado

By Gigi Ragland, 7-23-11

	Image courtesy of Ouray Chamber Resort Association.

It is easy to see why Jeep tours are popular in Ouray, Colorado. The small town is only nine blocks long and six blocks wide, set in a river valley at 7,792 feet and surrounded by 13,000- to 14,000-foot mountain peaks of the San Juan Mountain Range. Its city streets slope toward the mountains. Ouray, like many Colorado mountain towns, originated as a mining town. The town, founded in 1876, is a mecca for outdoor enthusiasts.

Jeeps here can traverse the steep grades of old wagon trail roads and trails that pose a challenge to traditional vehicles. There are a number of operators to select from depending on interest and length of tour.

A few impressions from a recent tour:

In the 1890s, a stagecoach ride offered by the Western Hotel up into the high mountain country was touted as “the grandest in the land.” The stage and wagon train roads still remain and now a number of Jeep companies, including San Juan Scenic Jeep Tours, known as the first and original Ouray Jeep tour, offer a variety of rides from old mining ghost towns to high mountain switchback vistas.

Ouray is honored as a National Historic District. On the tour, you will see charming Victorian architecture of the buildings. The Western Hotel is the oldest three-story wooden structure on Colorado’s Western Slope and includes a beautifully maintained authentic old west saloon.

The lobby of the historic Western Hotel (circa 1891) is the meeting point with San Juan Scenic Jeep tours. Half-day tours start at 8:30 a.m., returning at 1:30 p.m. You will have a chance to hear a few legendary Western tales as you are led through the lobby, parlor area and saloon before boarding the Jeep/

A popular route for locals and tourists, Yankee Boy Basin gets its share of Jeep visitors in the high season of summer. Most locals have some type of 4-wheel vehicle to get them through the rugged Ouray mountain terrain. Flat-landers will get a firsthand experience of why Ouray is known as “Jeep capital of the world.”

Aboard the spacious yellow 4-wheel Jeeps with the open canopy, passengers are treated to stunning vistas while the expert driver/guide explains the background of one of the most historic mining districts in the San Juan Mountain Range.

As the jeep climbs past rocky overhangs and twisting switchbacks, passengers will be enchanted with the emerald green mountains, waterfalls and lush basins, especially gorgeous during alpine wildflower season in July and August.

Fascinating remnants from the 1880s can still be seen at the Sneffels mining site, a highlight of the tour. Hiking trails are available in the area for the outdoor enthusiast to explore.

Further up the road and trail, relieved hikers and Jeep passengers will find a welcome modern-day convenience. A solar-powered, biological-waste conversion system bathroom facility at 10,000-plus feet.

San Juan Jeep Tours stops long enough for passengers to get out and stretch their legs at Lush Basin, a beautiful vista site. You can follow the stream for a short hike down to a waterfall.

Passengers can also hike to two waterfalls in Yankee Boy Basin. Ponchos are provided to passengers in the event of showers or rain.

One Last Look on the tour provides the scope and grandeur of a panoramic mountain vista. If you go, you’ll find the open canopy of the Jeep offers a great way to see the mountains in every direction.

Gigi Ragland is a freelance writer based in Longmont, Colo. For more of her visit, gigiragland.wordpress.com.

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