Have you ever dreamed of traveling to Europe and RVing through Switzerland? Then perhaps motor a fraction of the distance to Ouray, Colorado. The mountain community is at 8,000 feet in the beautiful San Juan Mountains and bills itself as the “Switzerland of America.”
Ouray was once a mining town beginning in the 1870’s and drove the local economy for nearly a century. Today, it’s main industry is tourism with its abundance of activity. The scenic San Juan Mountains are just one of the many reasons to plan a RV adventure here.
For instance, four wheel drive vehicle expeditions into the San Juan Mountains (via your own vehicle, rentals or guided tours) are one of the most popular activities.
There is literally a “jeep” rental/tour outfitter (or two) on every block. Further, hiking opportunities exist right from Ouray or in any of the nearby mountains. One of the easy more popular trails is the dog friendly Perimeter Trail, which circles the town.
Another popular activity is mountain biking. Visitors can choose between the mountainous four wheel drive roads or ride the “RAT” (Ridge Area Trails) that’s are known to be “the holy grail of biking.”
Additionally, waterfall lovers will be in nirvana with the variety of falls in the area. Two that can be seen right from town are Cascade Falls and Box Canyon Falls.
When to go
The super adventurous will want to plan their visit in January during the annual Ouray Ice Festival. This is when the waterfall becomes walls of ice and attracts ice climbers from around the world. For the less adventurous, several museums, art boutiques, and antique shops are also available to enjoy.
Additionally, there’s no shortage of campgrounds in Ouray and the surrounding area either. They range from privately-owned campgrounds to State parks. Of special note, owners of larger RVs will want to inquire about the forest service campgrounds as the access roads can be steep, narrow, and rough.
Traveling with your RV in Switzerland, just another adventure in RVing!
mike thomas says
More info on RV parks please
Dave Helgeson - Adventures in RVing says
If you have been following my blog over years, you know my first choice of space would have been the boondocks. Unless you have a rugged 4×4 RV that is not an option, second choice would have been a public campground. The road to the Amphitheater Campground has a sign prohibiting vehicles over 25ft in length. That left the RV parks in town as our only option. Looking at the location of the parks via Google Earth, the KOA is several miles out of town, the Ouray RV Park & Cabins is RIGHT on the highway as you enter town from the north, I didn’t want the road noise, I didn’t care for their rates either. The 4J RV Park is just a couple blocks from historic main street, quiet, on a stream and their rate (we selected a electric only site) was something this thrifty Norwegian could live with. A special note about the 4J is that is occupies the site of the old train depot with the road through the park being the old railroad grade.
Don says
Ridgway State Park is about 14 miles north of Ouray and about 5 miles north of the town of Ridgway where parts of True Grit were filmed. Modern restrooms/showers, laundry facilities, water, dump station, hiking trails, mountain views are all within the park. All camp sites at the Dutch Charlie unit of the park have electric hookups. The Pa-Co-Chu-Puk unit (another 5 miles north) has water/sewer/electric hookups and trout fishing. These are very nice campgrounds.
Leo Lindeman says
What is the elevation?
Dave Helgeson - Adventures in RVing says
Town sits at around 7,800 ft, surrounding mountains go much higher.
Bill says
Beautiful country. However, after towing the TT from Durango to Silverton recently, and then driving to Ouray, this old man will stick to roads that are a bit wider and that have at least a few feet of shoulder. Is it the road or am I just getting older?
Hank Stamper says
A word from a local: Please know that Ouray and Ridgway are extremely crowded every summer now. Yet when the fall colors are magnificent, there are a lot fewer people. “Jeeping” in the San Juans has become very crowded too, and the roads are getting much worse year by year because of all the ATV/Side-by-Sides and “rock crawlers”. Emergency vehicles are having a much harder time getting up to the high country to help people. Please SLOW DOWN and stop spinning tires, which degrades the roads. Thank you!