San Juan Mountains
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The San Juan Mountains are a rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado. The area is highly mineralized (the Colorado Mineral Belt) and figured in the gold and silver mining industry of early Colorado. Major towns, all old mining camps, include Creede, Lake City, Silverton, Ouray, and Telluride. Large scale mining is now uneconomical in the region, although independent prospectors still work claims throughout the range. The last large scale holdouts were the Standard Metals operation on Red Mountain Pass which operated until late in the 20th century and the ill-fated Summitville mine on the eastern slope of the San Juans.
The Summitville mine was the scene of a major environmental disaster in the 1990s when the hastily installed liner of a cyanide-laced tailing pond began leaking heavily. Summitville is in the Summitville caldera one of many extinct volcanoes making up the San Juan Volcanic Field. One, the La Garita Caldera, is 35 miles in diameter. Large beds of lava, some extending under the floor of the San Luis Valley, are characteristic of the eastern slope of the San Juans.
There is some tourism in the region, with the narrow gauge railway between Durango and Silverton being an attraction in the summer. Jeeping is popular on the old trails which linked the historic mining camps, particularly thrilling is the Black Bear Road. Visiting old ghost towns is popular, as are wilderness trekking and mountain climbing. The San Juans are extremely steep; only Telluride has made the transition to ski resort. Purgatory (now known as Durango Mountain Resort) is a small ski area north of Durango near the Tamarron Resort. There is also skiing on Wolf Creek Pass, an area used mostly by locals. Recently Silverton Mountain ski area has begun operation in Silverton. It is a highly rated extreme ski area and is currently available by reservation only.
The Rio Grande rises on the east side of the range. The other side of the San Juans, the western slope of the continental divide, is drained by tributaries of the San Juan, Dolores and Gunnison rivers, which all flow into the Colorado River.
The San Juan and Uncompahgre National Forests cover a large portion of the San Juan Mountains.
[edit] Fourteeners
The San Juan Mountains are home to several fourteeners, peaks rising more that 14,000 feet (4,267 m) above sea level.
- Uncompahgre Peak 14,309 ft (4361 m)
- Mt. Wilson 14,246 ft (4342 m)
- El Diente Peak 14,159 ft (4315 m)
- Mt. Sneffels 14,150 ft (4312 m)
- Mt. Eolus 14,083 ft (4292 m)
- Windom Peak 14,082 ft (4292 m)
- Sunlight Peak 14,059 ft (4285 m)
- Handies Peak 14,048 ft (4281 m)
- Redcloud Peak 14,034 ft (4277 m)
- Wilson Peak 14,017 ft (4272 m)
- Wetterhorn Peak 14,015 ft (4271 m)
- San Luis Peak 14,014 ft (4271 m)
- Sunshine Peak 14,001 ft (4267 m)
