The San Juan Mountains is a high and rugged
mountain range
A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...
in the
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...
in southwestern
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
and northwestern
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...
. The area is highly
mineral
In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2 ...
ized (the
Colorado Mineral Belt
The Colorado Mineral Belt (CMB) is an area of ore deposits from the La Plata Mountains in Southwestern Colorado to near the middle of the state at Boulder, Colorado and from which over 25 million troy ounces (778 t) of gold were extracted begin ...
) and figured in the
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...
and
silver
Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...
mining industry of early Colorado. Major towns, all old
mining camp
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...
s, include
Creede,
Lake City,
Silverton,
Ouray, and
Telluride. Large scale mining has ended in the region, although independent prospectors still work claims throughout the range. The last large scale mines were the
Sunnyside Mine near Silverton, which operated until late in the 20th century and the
Idarado Mine
The Idarado Mine was a mining operation in the San Juan Mountains of Ouray County, Colorado near the now-ghost town of Guston, producing primarily lead, silver and zinc along with lesser amounts of gold and copper. The mine is within the S ...
on
Red Mountain Pass that closed down in the 1970s. Famous old San Juan mines include the
Camp Bird
Camp may refer to:
Outdoor accommodation and recreation
* Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site
* a temporary settlement for nomads
* Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...
and
Smuggler Union mines, both located between Telluride and Ouray.
The
Summitville mine was the scene of a major environmental disaster in the 1990s when the liner of a
cyanide
Cyanide is a naturally occurring, rapidly acting, toxic chemical that can exist in many different forms.
In chemistry, a cyanide () is a chemical compound that contains a functional group. This group, known as the cyano group, consists of ...
-laced
tailing pond
In mining, tailings are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction (gangue) of an ore. Tailings are different to overburden, which is the waste rock or other material that overlie ...
began leaking heavily. Summitville is in the Summitville
caldera
A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber is ...
, one of many extinct
volcano
A volcano is a rupture in the Crust (geology), crust of a Planet#Planetary-mass objects, planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and volcanic gas, gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Ear ...
es making up the
San Juan volcanic field
The San Juan volcanic field is part of the San Juan Mountains in southwestern Colorado. It consists mainly of volcanic rocks that form the largest remnant of a major composite volcanic field that covered most of the southern Rocky Mountains in t ...
. One,
La Garita Caldera
La Garita Caldera is a large caldera in the San Juan volcanic field in the San Juan Mountains near the town of Creede in southwestern Colorado, United States.
It is west of La Garita, Colorado. The eruption that created the La Garita Calde ...
, is in diameter. Large beds of
lava
Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or un ...
, some extending under the floor of the
San Luis Valley, are characteristic of the eastern slope of the San Juans.
Tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mor ...
is now a major part of the regional economy, with the
narrow gauge railway between
Durango and Silverton being an attraction in the summer.
Jeeping is popular on the old trails which linked the historic mining camps, including the notorious
Black Bear Road
Black Bear Road or Black Bear Pass, and officially Forest Service Road 648, is a dirt road that starts from the summit of Red Mountain Pass on U.S. Highway 550 (between Ouray and Silverton) to Telluride, Colorado. The road crests at Black ...
. Visiting old
ghost town
Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to:
* Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned
Film and television
* ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser
* ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by All ...
s is popular, as is wilderness trekking and
mountain climbing. Many of the old
mining camp
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...
s are now popular sites of
summer homes. Though the San Juans are extremely steep and receive much snow, so far only Telluride has made the transition to a major
ski resort
A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In Nort ...
.
Purgatory Resort
Purgatory Resort is a ski resort located in the San Juan Mountains of Southwest Colorado, 25 miles (42 km) north of the town of Durango.
Established in 1965, Purgatory offers 105 trails, including 5 terrain parks, over 1,500 skiable acres, ...
, once known as Durango Mountain Resort, is a small ski area 26 miles north of Durango. There is also skiing on
Wolf Creek Pass
Wolf Creek Pass is a high mountain pass on the Continental Divide, in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. It is the route through which U.S. Highway 160 passes from the San Luis Valley into southwest Colorado on its way to New Mexico and Ariz ...
at the
Wolf Creek ski area
Wolf Creek Ski Area (WCSA) is a ski area in southwest Colorado, located on the Wolf Creek Pass between Pagosa Springs and South Fork. It is best known for receiving more average annual snowfall than any other resort in Colorado, at about 430 in ...
. Recently
Silverton Mountain
Silverton Mountain is a ski area near Silverton, Colorado, United States that opened on January 19, 2002. Popular with skiers and snowboarders, Silverton Mountain has one chairlift that carries visitors into its terrain, which is for advanced and ...
ski area has begun operation near Silverton. The range is also a popular destination for endurance sports like trail running and mountain biking; Silverton is home to the
Hardrock 100 Endurance Run one of the most difficult and technical ultra marathons in the world.
The
Rio Grande drains the east side of the range. The other side of the San Juans, the western slope of the
continental divide, is drained by tributaries of the
San Juan,
Dolores Dolores, Spanish for "pain; grief", most commonly refers to:
* Our Lady of Sorrows or La Virgen María de los Dolores
* Dolores (given name)
Dolores may also refer to:
Film
* ''Dolores'' (2017 film), an American documentary by Peter Bratt
* ' ...
and
Gunnison rivers, which all flow into the
Colorado River
The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. s ...
.
The
San Juan and
Uncompahgre National Forests cover a large portion of the San Juan Mountains. The
Continental Divide Trail
The Continental Divide National Scenic Trail (in short Continental Divide Trail (CDT)) is a United States National Scenic Trail with a length measured by the Continental Divide Trail Coalition of between the U.S. border with Chihuahua, Mexico ...
, a long-distance hiking trail follows the crest of the San Juan Mountains. The
Weminuche Wilderness
The Weminuche Wilderness is a wilderness area in southwest Colorado managed by the United States Forest Service as part of the San Juan National Forest on the west side of the Continental Divide and the Rio Grande National Forest on the east side ...
, Colorado's largest wilderness area, with an area of is in the San Juans.
The San Juan Mountains are also distinctive for their high altitude plateaus and peaks. As a result, facilities in the towns and cities of the region are among the highest in the nation.
Telluride Airport, at an elevation of 9,070 feet, is the highest in the United States with regularly scheduled commercial service.
Prominent peaks
* Note: This is only a partial list of important peaks in the San Juans, listing peaks by prominence only. There are dozens more summits over 12,000 feet.
History of the area
Mining operators in the San Juan mountain area formed the
San Juan District Mining Association (SJDMA) in 1903, as a direct result of a
Western Federation of Miners
The Western Federation of Miners (WFM) was a trade union, labor union that gained a reputation for militancy in the mining#Human Rights, mines of the western United States and British Columbia. Its efforts to organize both hard rock miners and ...
proposal to the Telluride Mining Association for
the eight-hour day, which
had been approved in a referendum by 72 percent of Colorado voters. The new association consolidated the power of thirty-six mining properties in
San Miguel,
Ouray, and
San Juan counties.
[The Corpse On Boomerang Road, Telluride's War On Labor 1899-1908, MaryJoy Martin, 2004, page 201.] The SJDMA refused to consider any reduction in hours or increase in wages, helping to provoke a bitter strike.
See also
*
Southern Rocky Mountains
The Southern Rocky Mountains are a major subregion of the Rocky Mountains of North America located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Wyoming, the central and western portions of Colorado, the northern portion of New Mexico, and e ...
*
Sneffels Range
The Sneffels Range, regionally conterminous with San Juans, is a young, prominent, and rugged range of mountains in southwestern Colorado of the San Juan Mountains. The Sneffels range form the southern border of Ouray County and run west to east ...
*
Cimarron Ridge
Cimarron Ridge is a ridge in the San Juan Mountains in southwestern Colorado. The ridge runs north-south and occupies parts of Gunnison, Montrose, Ouray, and Hinsdale counties. The ridge parallels U.S. Highway 550, and parts of the ridge can ...
*
Needle Mountains
The Needle Mountains are a subrange of the San Juan Mountains of the Rocky Mountains located in the southwestern part of the U.S. State of Colorado. Much of the range is protected in the Weminuche Wilderness of the San Juan National Forest. The ...
*
La Garita Mountains
The La Garita Mountains are a high mountain range in the San Juan Mountains, a sub-range of the Rocky Mountains. The mountains are located in Saguache and Mineral counties in southwestern Colorado and are almost entirely managed as public land ...
*
Cochetopa Hills
*
La Plata Mountains
The La Plata Mountains are a small subrange of the San Juan Mountains in the southwestern part of Colorado, United States. They are located on the border between Montezuma and La Plata counties, about northwest of Durango. Their name is Spani ...
*
Mountain ranges of Colorado
This is a list of the major mountain ranges in the U.S. State of Colorado. All of these ranges are considered subranges of the Southern Rocky Mountains.
As given in the table, topographic elevation is the vertical distance above the reference g ...
*
Hardrock Hundred Mile Endurance Run
The Hardrock Hundred Mile Endurance Run is an ultramarathon in length, with of climb at an average elevation of over . The race is held on a loop course on 4WD roads, dirt trails, and cross country in Southern Colorado's San Juan Range, US. T ...
References
Further reading
*Bove, D. et al. (2001). ''Geochronology and geology of Late Oligocene through Miocene volcanism and mineralization in the western San Juan Mountains, Colorado''
.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1642 Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
*Lipman, P.W. (2006). ''Geologic map of the central San Juan Caldera Cluster, southwestern Colorado''
eologic Investigations Series I-2799 Reston, VA: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
External links
Widerange.org: Photos of the San Juan MountainsSan Juan Mountains @ PeakbaggerSouthern Rocky Mountains @ PeakbaggerRocky Mountains @ Peakbagger
{{Authority control
Mountain ranges of Colorado
Ranges of the Rocky Mountains
Mountain ranges of Ouray County, Colorado
Landforms of Hinsdale County, Colorado
Landforms of San Juan County, Colorado
Landforms of San Miguel County, Colorado
San Juan National Forest
Uncompahgre National Forest