Telluride, CO
A weekend in Telluride, CO
August 1-2, 2020
Once you make the plan to travel to Telluride, some research will need to be done beforehand. The drive from Denver to Telluride is seven LONG hours, and cell service is limited. We were not expecting everything that Telluride was about to give us. What a beautiful mountain town that offered a variety of activities and a laid back atmosphere. The name Telluride is thought to have come from the phrase “to hell you ride,” based on riding through the mountains to get to the town.
Bridal Veil Falls Lookout
Fun Facts
Cost: $0 per person (dogs on and off leash are VERY welcome)
Elevation: 8,750 Feet
View: San Juan Mountains, Bridal Veil Falls, Mt Sneffles
Don’t Miss: Bridal Veil Falls, the many pizza shops (High Pie was our fave), Trout Lake, gondola ride to the top, Silverton and Ouray.
Note: Book hotels in advance. Bring what you need, not many stores in the area and everything closes early.
Fun Fact: The nearest stoplight is 45 miles away in Ridgeway, Colorado and There are 350 miles of mining tunnels running beneath the mountains of Telluride.
We arrived in the town of Telluride with no idea of where we would sleep for the time we were there. We called a few hotels, but with no luck, we still did not have any available options. There are no chain hotels (or even restaurants) in or near the town, so be prepared to book well in advance if you need a hotel. Luckily we brought our camping gear, and off we went stopping at many different campgrounds looking for a spot. We found the perfect dispersed campground 20 minutes from town. Lizard Head pass campground had some of the best views of all the campgrounds in the area.
The next morning we drove back into town to get in line for one of the only breakfast spots on the main road, the Butcher and the Baker. This small cafe was rustic and charming. There was a line down the sidewalk continuously of people waiting to get breakfast. I ordered avocado toast (my breakfast go-to); it was really basic but a decent amount of food before a short hike. Stephen ordered a croissant sandwich that was much better than my toast. The cafe had many fresh baked goods that looked enticing to buy and yummy aa a quick grab and go option. If you like coffee this would be your place for a good cup ‘o joe.
The hike we choose for the day was Bridal Veil Falls. This was a short moderate hike with two larger waterfalls before reaching the main attraction of Bridal Veil Falls. The pools of water at the bottom of the falls were crystal clear, and the rocks were a vibrant hue of burnt red. We had both waterfalls all to ourselves for periods of time.
Butter and Eggs Flower - Stephen & Monroe in front of Bridal Veil Falls - Gentiana acaulis flower
Once you reach Bridal Veil Falls, it is pure AWE at the site of this spectacular waterfall that descends 365 feet top to bottom, making this Colorado's tallest free-falling waterfall. At the top of the falls, you will find the second oldest hydroelectric power plant in the world, Bridal Veil Hydroelectric Plant, built-in 1895.
If you do not want to take the hike up, there is a dirt road that you can drive to the top. We hiked the road down and found it a much faster hike with stunning views of the town.
On our way back to our campsite, we found a road to a small ghost town and Alta Lakes. The winding dirt road took about 30 minutes to get to the end, where there is a dispersed campground surrounded by shallow clear mirrored lakes. There were many families camping and fishing along the three lakes.
This campground is highly recommended to be accessed by vehicles that are not low to the ground. We did not camp in this location due to the time it took to get back into town.
When you travel to Alta Lakes, you pass a ghost town with trails to many beautiful buildings
and a background you can’t ignore.
Once the sun started setting, herds of elk seemed to be everywhere. This heard of elk was right in our campground.
August 3, 2020
When we left Telluride, we didn’t know where we were heading, so we stopped in Durango to see what people were excited about. Honestly, we both were very let down on Durango and only stopped to eat then quickly leave. Downtown Durango had shops and plenty of restaurants, but they are known mostly for the Durango Train rides through the mountains to and from Silverton.
If you are in Durango, I highly recommended stopping at Pinkerton Hot Springs. This is not something you will want to jump in since it is located off a busy road and isn’t actually hot. This hot spring is located 20 minutes outside of Durango on Highway 550 right before Bakers Bridge (another great stop in Durango).
Pinkerton Hot Springs looks like something that came from Mars. Its bright, bold, and makes you slam on your brakes to stop to see this insane looking natural wonder. If you walk around the backside, you can see a bathtub overtaken by the land where the water runs off.
Leaving Durango, we headed towards Sand Dunes National Park to see if we could get a spot at the campground. While on the way, we stopped at Treasure Falls to break up the long drive. This was a quick pull off the side of the road stop and a very short hike to a really cool mossy waterfall.
Sand Dunes NP in a storm behind
a field of yellow flowers.
