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The dirt road leading to the site is accessible to passenger vehicles.Īnother good diversion is the drive to Ouray along the 24-mile stretch of Highway 550 dubbed the Million Dollar Highway. BLM plaques describe the structures and the history of the town. A surprising number of buildings and mining structure still stand at the site, inhabited from the 1870’s to the 1920’s. When you need a break from hiking a visiting Animas Forks, a ghost town located 15 miles northeast of Silverton on County Road 2, is an interesting option. The museum features artifacts and displays explaining the history of the town, the area's mining legacy and the D&SNG railroad.
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The San Juan County Museum, located in the old San Juan County Jail at the northeast end of Green Street, is worth a visit and a good rainy day diversion. Good options include visiting the local Cemetery (2 miles), ascending to the Idaho Mine (3.1 miles) or walking along the Animas River south of town (1.6 miles) Visit the tourist office for more information on other nearby short hikes. Reach the shrine by walking northwest on 10th Street to its end at Keystone Street where an obvious trail ascends the hillside to the statue. Take time to tour the backstreets west of Greene to see beautifully restored Victorian homes along with buildings undergoing restoration.įor a bird’s eye view of Silverton and the surrounding area take an evening stroll to the Christ of the Mine Shrine, a huge statue of Jesus in a stone alcove located 500 feet up the slope of Anvil Mountain north of Silverton.
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The evenings are a good time to stroll the streets and appreciate the historic buildings. The town is also is a popular stop for sightseers driving the San Juan Skyway, a 233-mile loop with stunning scenery that crosses four high passes and connects Silverton to Ouray, Telluride, Cortez, and Durango (going clockwise around the loop).īy late afternoon most of the train tourists are gone and the town takes on a more relaxed and authentic atmosphere. During the summer and early fall the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad (D&SNG) makes the 45-mile run between Durango and Silverton several times a day, bringing an influx of tourists who spend a few hours sightseeing, shopping and eating before returning to Durango. Tourism is the mainstay of Silverton’s economy. Many of the restored structures on Greene, Blair and the adjacent side streets are now eclectic gift shops and restaurants catering to tourist. Today the town boasts of its dual personalities, the respectable half west of Greene Street (the town’s main drag) and the “red light district” east of Greene around notorious Blair Street, once home to over 40 saloons and brothels. Because Silverton never experienced a major fire a good number of these buildings are still standing. The route north from Durango is just as spectacular, crossing Coal Bank (10,640-ft.) and Molas (10,970-ft.) Passes along the way.ĭuring Silverton’s heyday in the 1880’s, millions of dollars in gold and silver extracted from nearby mines fueled construction of lavish hotels and ornate homes, occupied by the town’s law-abiding and respectable citizens, along with dance halls, brothels and saloons frequented by a rougher crowd. Driving south from Ouray on 550, the narrow, winding highway ascends through fabulous scenery littered with mining ruins to cross Red Mountain Pass (11,018-ft.) before dropping to Silverton. The town lies sandwiched between high passes on Highway 550, aka the Million Dollar Highway, 23 miles south of Ouray and 50 miles north of Durango.
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Getting to Silverton is its own adventure. The Continental Divide and the Colorado Trails traverse the high country to the south and east. The Weminuche Wilderness, the State’s largest, is located southeast of town. What the town lacks in polish it makes up for with location, surrounded by BLM land and three national forests featuring stunning alpine valleys, emerald green meadows and towering peaks. Silverton is a little grittier and rougher around the edges then nearby Ouray. Primarily constructed between 18, the entire town is a national historic landmark and considered one of the most intact sites of its kind in the country. Silverton (9,318-ft.) is a wonderfully preserved mining town set in a high mountain valley surrounded by 13,000-ft.