Where exactly is Telluride, Colorado?
It probably seems like a silly question to many reading this, but I am sure that some of you, somewhere out there are asking yourself this question.
Telluride is a small town with a very BIG personality, located in a relatively remote corner of southwest Colorado. We are quite close to the Utah border (when you are skiing in the Telluride Ski Resort you can clearly see the La Sal Mountains in Utah), and just a few hours from the Four Corners region where Colorado meets Utah, Arizona & New Mexico. Telluride boasts a rich Native American history, as well as a colorful mining history that dates back to the end of the 19th century. These days, Telluride has a reputation as one of North America’s most sought after ski resorts. Conde Nast magazine ranked Telluride the #1 Ski Resort in North America in 2019, and we consistently get ranked, “most beautiful”, “most friendly” & “most challenging” ski area as well. For the full list of accolades Telluride has won in the past few years, visit our previous blog post. You may be asking yourself, “If Telluride is so great, why haven’t I heard of it, or why don’t more people go there?”. That’s a very good question. The reason Telluride is not on the map like Vail or Aspen is because we are about as far from I-70 as you can get. The nearest major city is a full day’s drive away. Because of our remote location, we have no crowds, no lift lines, no lurking paparazzi, beautiful, clean mountain air & some of the most spectacular mountain scenery of anywhere in Colorado.
To give you an idea of Telluride’s remote location:
- Telluride is 6.5 hours southwest of Denver, Colorado.
- 8 hours northeast of Phoenix, Arizona.
- 6 hours southeast of Salt Lake City, Utah.
- 14 hours east of LA, California 🙂
- The nearest traffic light is 40 miles away.
- The nearest Walmart is 1.5 hrs away (thankfully 🙂)
Below is a map of (most of) Colorado, showing the exact location of Telluride (the red marker). Over to the left you can see the Utah border, and just below Durango to the south is the New Mexico & Arizona border.
A few fun facts about Telluride:
- Butch Cassidy robbed his first bank in Telluride in 1889
- Bridal Veil Falls is 2 miles east of Telluride & is the highest free falling waterfall in Colorado
- Telluride is linked to Mountain Village by a free gondola, the only transportation system of its kind in North America
- Telluride Helitrax is Colorado’s only helicopter ski company and has been in operation since 1982
- Telluride was the first city in the world to have electric streetlights. Once called the “City of Lights,” the world’s first alternating current (AC) power plant was built here.
- There are no stop lights in Telluride
- There are no chain stores in Telluride
- There are no neon signs in Telluride
If you like the sound of Telluride, or are planning a visit, please visit our Lodging In Telluride website. We have affordable Telluride lodging options for your Telluride vacation. Our vacation rental condos are located in Telluride town, within walking distance to Main Street, the chairlifts, hiking trails & the gondola. Please call us on 888-998-6471 to discuss your plans!