Extras
Enter for your chance to win a Jeep Wrangler!
Browse our new interactive brochure!
Upcoming Events
June 8th
OCHS Sawmills Exhibit
June 11th
Environmental Education & Nature Detectives
July 7th
Art Class for Teens
July 7th
Terrific Tuesdays -Kids summer arts classes - "Collage" with Danelle Hughes Norman
July 7th
Evenings of History
Blog Headlines
Press
Magazine Quotes
Harper's Weekly, 1889
"Ouray is asserted to be the handsomest mountain town in Colorado. I am not inclined to dispute this, for there are few towns on the North American continent that in point of natural attraction are worth comparing to it."
"At best, the tourist who stays in the quaint bowl of the Uncompahgre a few days or a few weeks gets only a passing glimpse of Ouray; he has little time in which to analyze or study the ineffable charm which seems to hang about the place. . . As the departing stranger rides slowly up the southern wall of mountains in one of Nuttall & Clark's stages, on the wonderful toll-road that Otto Mears built from Ouray to Silverton, he can only look back at the mighty bowl and its town in the centre, and regret that a beautiful incident in his life has come to an end."
5280 Magazine, Fun Getaways, 2004
"The town is a unique part of Colorado that many tourists -- and even Coloradans -- overlook. While I had heard of this Switzerland of the Rockies, somehow the six-hour drive from Denver had always kept me from visiting. But now, standing on Main Street and surrounded by some of the most beautiful scenery in the state, I wonder what on Earth I was thinking."
New West Living
"The ice precipices, like frozen waterfalls, create not only a scenic spectacle, but also a powerful attraction to the climbers who dare to scale them. And nearby Ouray, once a sleepy little Western Colorado mountain town, is gaining international renown as a winter sports destination."
San Antonio Light
"There is a little piece of heaven, right up on the roof of America, located in a little place called Ouray."
Forbes Magazine
"The old mining town of Ouray, Colorado -- current population 800 -- may just occupy the most spectacular civic location in America. Perched up in the San Juan Mountains at almost 7,700 feet, it sits in a bowl surrounded by 13,000 to 14,000 foot peaks, with mountains staggered into the blue distance as far as the eye can follow."
Crofutt's Grip-Sack Guide of Colorado 1885
"The site of Ouray is one of great beauty being just inside of the canon of the Uncompahgre River. . .On all sides the canon walls and mountains rise, range upon range, peak overshadowing peak, all grooved and furrowed by the hand of the Great Maker, from the tiniest wrinkle to a chasm of most gigantic proportions, from the smallest depression and most rugged ravine to one of the grandest canons in the world."
Letters of Ayn Rand
(Ouray is the town which Ayn Rand used as a model for the utopian city of Galt's Gulch in her book Atlas Shrugged.)
". . .Speaking of Atlas Shrugged, I was amused (benevolently) to hear that you chose Ouray as your favorite spot in Colorado. That is the little town I had picked for Galt's Gulch. To be exact, I marked it on a map as the right location long before I saw it. Then, when I went to Colorado for research purposes and discovered Ouray, I fell in love with it. It is the most beautifully dramatic spot in the whole state, and it's even surrounded by a ring of mountains. . ."
The Daily Times, Farmington, NM
"For those who prefer their fun on the quiet side, Ouray is a wonderful wintertime hideaway.. .the small town atmosphere provides a welcome respite for those seeking to escape big city hustle and bustle."
"And, this small town is big on hospitality. Local residents are some of the friendliest this side of the Mississippi River."
The Reporter-Telegram, Midland TX
"Ouray. . .is surrounded by mountains that rival anything in the Alps or Andes. No matter which direction you look, it's beautiful, especially in the wildflower season."
"This legendary little mining town nestled in the top of the rugged Rocky Mountains is the last place on earth to visit if you are looking for glitz and glitter."
The New York Times
"Ouray remains a real Western town of hospitable nature and considerable history, an architectural delight, and a mecca for true believers in the curative properties of water that comes from the earth at about 150 degrees."
The New York Times
". . .countless creeks and springs combine with cliffs and canyons to create some of the best ice-climbing sites in North America."
"Conditions are so good that guide services from as far away as Seattle hold ice-climbing seminars in Ouray."
Road Rider Magazine
"Ouray is by no means a ghost town, but you'll feel as though you road into a town of timeless, Western charm and hospitality when you unpack your saddlebags."
National Geographic Traveler Magazine
"Ouray. . .an exceptionally charming and contented former mining town set peaceably in a ring of peaks that rise another 5,000 feet, a place blessed with sulphur-free hot springs, a town not forgotten by time but which has made friends with both history and modernity."
The Arizona Republic, Phoenix, AZ
"Ouray, Colorado, the Switzerland of America, but Shangri-La fits it just as well. . ."
Rocky Mountain News, Denver, CO
"In Ouray, it's just pure, simple beauty."
Los Angeles Times
"Ouray. . .It's a Christmas-card scene cradled in the Rockies. . .you wonder how it remained that way."
The Daily Sentinel, Grand Junction, CO
"Sit on any corner, in any cafe, on any hillside overlooking Ouray during the summer and the world passes you by."
Philaelphia Enquirer, Philadelphia, PA
"There's a stranger in town. For only about five minutes. By the time a visitor is greeted by a friendly innkeeper, checked in and handed brochures on things to do and see, the stranger has become an ex officio member of the community. In this tiny town of Ouray, about 150 miles west of Colorado Springs and set in a small valley surrounded by towering alpine peaks, no one stays a stranger long."
Ouray Visitor Quotes
Nicotra Birdgwater, New Jersey
"10 years ago someone told me Ouray should not be missed. He was right!"
Walker Malver, Arizona
"It's my favorite town in the entire world."
the Moore's, Oklahoma
"Heard it was like Switzerland. the scenery is awesome!"
The Small's, London England
"Ouray has been restored with great taste and sensitivity Charming inhabitants."
A Photo Release Form for members.
A Press Release Form for members.