Qualla: San Juan Mountains

San Juan Mountains: Introduction

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Matt North from Chicago, USA, CC BY 2.0. The name on the map says mountains, but the San Juans are really the ruins of volcanoes. Dozens of calderas, some stretching miles across, collapsed here millions of years ago, and the peaks that remain are what the eruptions left behind. One of those calderas, La Garita, produced what geologists consider one of the most powerful volcanic eruptions in Earth's history, obliterating the volcanoes that once stood in its place and scattering ash across much of North America. Today those same slopes glitter with wildflowers in summer and avalanche debris in winter, and the towns wedged into the valleys below still carry the names and scars of the silver and gold rush that dragged thousands of prospectors into this remote corner of Colorado.

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Image: Matt North from Chicago, USA | CC BY 2.0

San Juan Mountains: Fortunes Carved from Stone

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Hogs555, CC BY-SA 3.0. The San Juan Mountains sit squarely on the Colorado Mineral Belt, and for decades in the late 1800s, that meant everything. Mining camps sprang up at Creede, Lake City, Silverton, Ouray, and Telluride, each chasing veins of gold and silver through rock of volcanic origin. The Cam...

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Image: Hogs555 | CC BY-SA 3.0

San Juan Mountains: Ghost Towns and Iron Horses

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Kimon Berlin, CC BY-SA 2.0. When the silver ran thin, the towns did not all vanish. Some became ghost towns, their abandoned houses slowly folding into the hillsides at places like Eureka and Gladstone. Others reinvented themselves. The narrow gauge railway between Durango and Silverton, once a lifeline for...

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Image: Kimon Berlin | CC BY-SA 2.0

San Juan Mountains: The Roof of the Colorado River

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Gregstoner88 (talk · contribs), CC BY-SA 3.0. Water leaving the San Juans flows to two oceans. The Rio Grande drains the eastern slopes, eventually reaching the Gulf of Mexico. The western side feeds the San Juan, Dolores, and Gunnison rivers, all tributaries of the Colorado River. The highest summit in the range, Uncompahgr...

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Image: Gregstoner88 (talk · contribs) | CC BY-SA 3.0

San Juan Mountains: High Altitude Living

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit KimonBerlin, CC BY-SA 2.5. The San Juans are defined by their sheer vertical reach. Telluride Airport sits at 9,070 feet, making it the highest commercial airport in the United States with regularly scheduled service. Telluride itself has become a major ski resort, while Purgatory Resort serves skiers 26 m...

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Image: KimonBerlin | CC BY-SA 2.5