Telluride - Colorado - Sunset's Travel Guide

Sunset, August, 1994 by David Lansing

As you climb the stairs of the abandoned boardinghouse, the weathered wood creaking under your feet and the mountain wind whistling through cracks in the walls, you understand why Alta, Colorado, is called a ghost town. Walk into the tiny rooms, barren now except for the litter of passing hikers, and look out the window to a decrepit shell that was once a mine supervisor's home. You can almost hear the sounds of children playing, the calls of women doing laundry, the clanking of men and machinery tunneling for silver.

Long before it was a ski destination and summer-festival center, the Telluride area was known for its mines, Tomboy and Smuggler among them. Alta was another, and around it grew a small town of 250, served by a school, a general store, an assay office, a boardinghouse, and a number of modest homes. The mine and town remained active until 1948, when a fire in the mine's main shaft forced the miners to collapse the entrance to prevent the spread of toxic gases. The mine closed, and the families moved away.

Today you can visit this ghost town, just 30 minutes outside Telluride, by four-wheel-drive vehicle or on a guided tour. In addition to the boardinghouse and mine ruins, you can walk through many of the turn-of-the-century buildings that sit on a forested ridge offering spectacular views of Mount Wilson. Visitors should leave the buildings as they found them, taking care not to disturb the artifacts.

From Telluride, take State Highway 145 south to the Alta Lakes turnoff. Turn left on the dirt road and follow it for 4 miles. Navigating this road without a four-wheel-drive vehicle is possible, but not recommended. Several agencies in Telluride rent all-terrain vehicles (about $60 for 4 hours, or $80 per day). Telluride Outside offers 4-hour scenic tours of the Alta Lakes area, including the ghost town. The cost is $50 to $60 per person. For more information, call (800) 831-6230.