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Thursday, August 13, 2015

Ridgeway State Park, Ouray "Switzerland of America," Red Mountains, and Silverton

Aloha Everyone,

We were told by a number of fellow RVers that Route 550 is one of the "must not miss" road trips in Colorado. Approximately 120 miles long, it took us about 4 hours due to winding mountain roads. The drive definitely was worthwhile.




We drove passed our first possible destination, Ridgeway State Park as the rain started to pelt Honu's windshield.






Tourism brochures and a large destination sign in Ouray says, "The Switzerland of America." Beautiful alpine village,  but we decided to move on as the phone signals kept on dropping.







Red Mountains are gorgeous. Colorado in Spanish means red color.  Early Spanish explores saw red color silt in the water which the Colorado River carried.







Silverton is a frontier mining town in the rugged San Juan Mountains. The Main Street is lined with hotels, inns, restaurants and souvenir shops. We are staying at Red Mountain RV Park located at the edge of the town. It is very quiet and through the misty, cold drizzles, I can see a white line of water cascading down the mountain. The elevation is 9,200 ft. It is expected to go down to 47 degrees Fahrenheit.






This is a good compromise. Serene and peaceful rural setting but with WiFi and phone connection.



Aloha -- Cathi