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Uncompahgre National Forest
Uncompahgre National Forest is a U.S. National Forest covering 955,229 acres (1,492.55 sq mi, or 3,865.68 km2) in (in descending order of land area) parts of Montrose, Mesa, San Miguel, Ouray, Gunnison, Hinsdale, San Juan, and Delta Counties in western Colorado. Its headquarters are in Delta County, in the city of Delta. It borders the San Juan National Forest to the south. Within the national forest boundaries can be found the arid Uncompahgre Plateau and the northern portion of the San Juan Mountains. The forest contains three alpine wilderness areas: Uncompahgre (formerly the Big Blue Wilderness), Mount Sneffels, and Lizard Head. Uncompahgre National Forest was established on June 14, 1905. The Uncompahgre, Grand Mesa, and Gunnison National Forests were all administered separately until 1954 when Grand Mesa and Uncompahgre started to be administered as a single unit, with Gunnison added in 1973. Today, Uncompahgre National Forest is administered jointly with the ...
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Wetterhorn Peak
Wetterhorn Peak (german: Wetterhorn, literally ''Weather Horn'') is a fourteen thousand foot mountain peak in the U.S. state of Colorado. It is located in the Uncompahgre Wilderness of the northern San Juan Mountains, in northwestern Hinsdale County and southeastern Ouray County, east of the town of Ouray. It lies west of Uncompahgre Peak. Wetterhorn Peak, and its neighbor Matterhorn Peak, , are named after the Wetterhorn and the Matterhorn, two famous peaks in the Swiss Alps. Both Colorado peaks are pointed rock spires (hence resembling their namesake peaks), whose shapes contrast with the broad bulk of the higher Uncompahgre Peak. The first recorded ascent of the peak was made in 1906 by George Barnard, C. Smedley, W. P. Smedley, and D. Utter, but a previous ascent by miners working in the area in the 19th century is likely. The standard, and only common, route on Wetterhorn Peak is the southeast ridge, which is accessed via the Matterhorn Creek drainage on the south ...
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Alpine Climate
Alpine climate is the typical weather (climate) for elevations above the tree line, where trees fail to grow due to cold. This climate is also referred to as a mountain climate or highland climate. Definition There are multiple definitions of alpine climate. In the Köppen climate classification, the alpine and mountain climates are part of group ''E'', along with the polar climate, where no month has a mean temperature higher than . According to the Holdridge life zone system, there are two mountain climates which prevent tree growth : a) the alpine climate, which occurs when the mean biotemperature of a location is between . The alpine climate in Holdridge system is roughly equivalent to the warmest tundra climates (ET) in the Köppen system. b) the alvar climate, the coldest mountain climate since the biotemperature is between 0 °C and 1.5 °C (biotemperature can never be below 0 °C). It corresponds more or less to the coldest tundra climates and to the ...
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Alpine Loop National Back Country Byway
The Alpine Loop Back Country Byway is a rugged Back Country Byway and Colorado Scenic and Historic Byway located in the high San Juan Mountains of Hindale, Ouray, and San Juan counties, Colorado, USA. The byway connects the mountain towns of Lake City, Ouray, and Silverton. The route ranges in elevation from (a mere) in Ouray to at Engineer Pass. The byway features high mountain passes, alpine tundra, beautiful mountain meadows, ghost towns, and relics of the silver mining era. While the meadows and tundra are accessible to ordinary passenger vehicles, a high-clearance 4-wheel drive vehicle is required to travel the entire route. The Silverton Historic District and the Shenandoah-Dives (Mayflower) Mill are National Historic Landmarks. The Alpine Loop connects with the San Juan Skyway Scenic and Historic Byway at Ouray and Silverton. __TOC__ Route The Alpine Loop is generally considered to begin and end at Lake City. From there the route commonly fo ...
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San Juan Skyway Scenic Byway
The San Juan Skyway Scenic and Historic Byway is a All-American Road, National Forest Scenic Byway, and Colorado Scenic and Historic Byway located in Dolores, La Plata, Montezuma, San Juan, and San Miguel counties, Colorado, USA. The byway forms a loop in southwestern Colorado traversing the heart of the San Juan Mountains. The San Juan Skyway reaches its zenith at Red Mountain Pass at elevation . Mesa Verde National Park was one of the original UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The Silverton Historic District and the Telluride Historic District are National Historic Landmarks. It roughly parallels the routes of the narrow gauge railways: Rio Grande Southern (US 160, SH 145 and SH 62); and the unconnected Ouray and Silverton Branches of the Denver & Rio Grande along US 550 with the Silverton Railroad bridging a part of the gap. Its origin can be traced to the Around the Circle Route promoted by the D&RG. The San Juan Skyway overlaps with the Trail of the A ...
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Telluride, Colorado
Telluride is the county seat and most populous town of San Miguel County in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Colorado. The town is a former silver mining camp on the San Miguel River in the western San Juan Mountains. The first gold mining claim was made in the mountains above Telluride in 1875, and early settlement of what is now Telluride followed. The town was founded in 1878 as "Columbia", but due to confusion with a California town of the same name, was renamed Telluride in 1887 for the gold telluride minerals found in other parts of Colorado. These telluride minerals were never found near Telluride, but the area's mines for some years provided zinc, lead, copper, silver, and other gold ores. Telluride sits in a box canyon. Steep forested mountains and cliffs surround it, with Bridal Veil Falls situated at the canyon's head. Numerous weathered ruins of old mining operations dot the hillsides. A free gondola connects the town with its companion town, Mount ...
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Trout Lake (Colorado)
Trout Lake is a lake located in southeast San Miguel County, Colorado, in Uncompahgre National Forest. Trout Lake is a 15-minute drive from Ophir via Colorado State Highway 145 and a 30-minute drive from Telluride. History Trout Lake was originally explored by American fur- trappers and pioneers, who often used the lake as a stopping point for their expeditions. The population of Trout Lake grew after the construction of the Rio Grande Southern Railroad and the nearby Ames Hydroelectric Generating Plant in the 1890s. Early History While it is unknown if Spanish, Mexican, or Native American explorers reached Trout Lake previously, the first record of Trout Lake was taken by an American fur trapping expedition. In the spring of 1831, the St. Louis Fur Company employed a party of 60 men under the command of Colonel William G Walton to trap beavers and other fur-bearing animals along the headwaters of the San Juan River. The party spent the summer of 1833 in the valley ...
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Million Dollar Highway
U.S. Route 550 (US 550) is a spur of U.S. Highway 50 that runs from Bernalillo, New Mexico to Montrose, Colorado in the western United States. The section from Silverton to Ouray is frequently called the Million Dollar Highway.Road Trip America – Million Dollar Highway
by Mark Sedenquist accessed Oct 21, 2007
It is one of the roads on the Trails of the Ancients Byway, one of the designated .
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Norwood, Colorado
Norwood is a Statutory Town in San Miguel County, Colorado, United States. The population was 518 at the 2010 census. A post office called Norwood has been in operation since 1887. The community was named after Norwood, Missouri, the native home of a first settler. Geography Norwood is located at (38.131077, -108.291478). According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all land. Norwood's rural location on Wright's Mesa led to its 2019 designation as an International Dark Sky Community by the International Dark-Sky Association. Norwood is one of 32 International Dark Sky Communities. Demographics As of the census of 2000, there were 438 people, 195 households, and 112 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 258 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 97.49% White, 1.60% Native American, 0.23% from other races, and 0.68% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race we ...
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Montrose, Colorado
Montrose is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Montrose County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 20,291 at the 2020 census, within a total area of 18.5 square miles. The main road that leads in and out of Montrose is U.S. Highway 50. The town is located in western Colorado, in the Uncompahgre Valley and is an economic, labor, and transportation waypoint for the surrounding recreation industry. In 2022, Montrose was ranked in the top-25 of the nations most dynamic micropolitan statistical areas by think tank Heartland Forward largely due its outdoor recreation access. History Montrose was incorporated on May 2, 1882 and named after Sir Walter Scott's novel ''A Legend of Montrose'' by Oliver D. "Pappy" Loutzenhizer and Joseph Selig. The Denver & Rio Grande railroad was built west toward Grand Junction and reached Montrose later in 1882, and the town became an important regional shipping center. A branch rai ...
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Gunnison, Colorado
Gunnison is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Gunnison County, Colorado. The city population was 6,560 at the 2020 United States Census. Gunnison was named in honor of John W. Gunnison, a United States Army officer who surveyed for a transcontinental railroad in 1853. History The City of Gunnison got its name from the first known European-American explorer of the area, John W. Gunnison. He was searching for a route for the transcontinental railroad in 1853 and only stayed for three days before traveling west to Utah. Gunnison saw its first population increase in the 1870s, due to the mining surge throughout the state. The railroad arrived soon after in 1880 to appreciative miners, ranchers, and farmers. In the early 1800s, the groups moving into the Gunnison area were mainly fur trappers and mountain men, trying to make a living for themselves in the rocky mountain terrain. But a drop in fur prices in the 1840s essentially ...
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Grand Mesa National Forest
The Grand Mesa National Forest is a U.S. National Forest in Mesa, Delta and Garfield Counties in Western Colorado. It borders the White River National Forest to the north and the Gunnison National Forest to the east. The forest covers most of Grand Mesa and the south part of Battlement Mesa. It has a total area of 346,555 acres (541.49 sq mi, or 1,402.46 km2).Table 6 - NFS Acreage by State, Congressional District and County
- - September 30, 2007 It is managed by the

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Lizard Head Wilderness
The Lizard Head Wilderness is a wilderness area in southwest Colorado. It contains and is jointly managed by the Uncompahgre and San Juan National Forests. It is southwest of the town of Telluride and is named for a prominent rock formation that is said to look like a lizard's head. Lizard Head itself is and is a volcanic spire of crumbling rock. Due to the steepness of the cliffs and the poor quality of the rock for fixing ropes, only experienced mountaineers should attempt to summit the spire. Another of trails in this infrequently visited wilderness, are also strenuous and should be attempted by more advanced backpackers. The area includes three prominent fourteeners: El Diente Peak (), Wilson Peak (), and Mount Wilson (). The area includes the headwaters of the west fork of the Dolores River The Dolores River is a tributary of the Colorado River, approximately long, in the U.S. states of Colorado and Utah. The river drains a rugged and arid region of the Colorado ...
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