Telluride

Telluride is a stunning mountain town in the San Juan mountains of Colorado. An hour from Ouray, I think of it as Ouray’s “big sister“ - larger, and even somewhat more dramatic of a landscape than Ouray, Telluride boasts a gorgeous green valley and stunning Mountain beauty along with beautiful changing colors on its many aspen trees starting in mid September.

Exploring and Hiking

Featured Hikes

Things to Know

Telluride is crowded and busy and extremely expensive but the natural landscape is so stunning that it is worth a couple of days to soak it all in. Especially if you can get a site at the campground. It also is a great location for a day trip if staying in Ouray or somewhere else in the vicinity. If possible, go mid-week or weekends that don't have a festival going on.

When to Visit

Telluride is definitely a summer destination for hiking. If tent camping, I wouldn’t go much later than the beginning of September as it gets quite cold at night. If you are staying in a vehicle or lodging, I would choose mid to late September to enjoy the stunning change of color as the aspens start to glow.

Where to Stay

Telluride is exceedingly expensive for lodging, even Airbnbs start at several hundred a night. The only place where camping is permitted is in the Town Park, which has a fairly crowded but nice campground that must be reserved months in advance according to a special timeline they have in which campsites are released at different dates. It’s almost easier to find a cancellation by checking regularly in the weeks ahead of when you want to come than trying to score a site the morning all of the sites become available for each specific time period. If you can get a campsite for a night or two it is well worth it! You can walk to everything right from your site and especially if you come when the moon is full you will be rewarded with easy night walks with the dramatic mountains in full view.