Telluride

Telluride sits at about 2,670m in a box canyon in the San Juan Mountains, far from any coast, and there is no beach life here. The nearest bathing worth the name is a small swimming area at the reservoir near Ridgway, about an hour's drive, where mountain water stays cool even in midsummer. Visitors who want water in summer raft, paddle or fish instead, and anyone who needs a swim on vacation should look elsewhere.

For a town of a few thousand people, Telluride eats better than you might expect. Ski-resort money supports a handful of serious kitchens along Colorado Avenue and up in Mountain Village, cooking modern American food with Colorado lamb, elk, trout and Western Slope produce, alongside casual burger joints, taquerias and bakeries feeding the lift crowds. Colorado craft beer is easy to find and wine lists are deeper than the town's size suggests.

What it lacks is breadth. There is no distinct local cuisine, no market culture and little in the way of cheap street food, and a week here means returning to the same small circle of places. Summer festival weekends and peak ski weeks make tables hard to get.

The town itself is the sight. Telluride's grid of clapboard houses, brick commercial blocks and false-fronted storefronts survives almost intact from its silver and gold mining boom, and the whole district is a National Historic Landmark. The Telluride Historical Museum, in an old miners' hospital, tells the story of the mines, the labour wars and the town's reinvention as a ski resort, and the 1913 Sheridan Opera House and the courthouse are worth a look. Above town, the ruins of mills and mine buildings cling to the canyon walls. It is an hour or two of pleasant wandering, not a reason to come.

Evenings in Telluride centre on après-ski and a few historic saloons on Colorado Avenue, where wooden bars and Victorian back rooms fill with skiers, locals and seasonal workers. In peak winter weeks and on summer festival weekends the main street can be lively until late, but there are no clubs and no real late-night scene. Out of season, and in the quiet weeks of spring and late autumn, the town goes to bed early.

Telluride is surrounded on three sides by the San Juan Mountains, with cliffs, waterfalls and peaks above 4,000m rising straight from the end of the main street. Bridal Veil Falls, the highest free-falling waterfall in Colorado, is a walk or jeep ride from town, and trails to Bear Creek Falls, Blue Lake and the high basins start within minutes of the centre. Summer brings wildflower meadows, mountain biking, a via ferrata on the canyon wall, fly fishing on the San Miguel River and old mining roads over Imogene and Ophir passes for four-wheel driving.

In winter the ski area spreads above the town and Mountain Village, with steep hike-to terrain, long cruisers and some of the best views in American skiing, plus snowshoeing and Nordic trails in the valley. Autumn turns the aspen forests gold. The altitude, about 2,670m in town, takes a day or two to adjust to.

Telluride is remote, and the places within a day's reach are few and spread across mountain roads. Ridgway, a ranching town, is under an hour away, and Ouray, a Victorian mining town in a narrow canyon, is about an hour and a quarter. Silverton, another old mining town and the end of the narrow-gauge railway from Durango, is roughly two hours away by the high road over Red Mountain Pass.

To the south-west, the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde are the one heritage site of real stature, but they lie at the very edge of a day trip, about two and a half hours each way. A car is essential for all of it, and winter passes can slow or close the routes.

Telluride works well for active families and less well for anyone expecting attractions. The town is small, safe and quiet, the free gondola to Mountain Village is a ride children enjoy in itself, and the ski area has a well-regarded ski school and gentle beginner slopes around the village. In summer there are town parks, the river path, easy waterfall walks and fishing.

There are no zoos, aquariums, theme parks or science museums, and wet days leave little to do indoors. The altitude, about 2,670m, can bring headaches and poor sleep for young children in the first days, and families on a tight budget will find it hard going.

Once you are here, Telluride is easy. The historic town is a compact grid you can cross on foot in a quarter of an hour, and a free gondola links it with Mountain Village and the ski area above, with free town buses filling the gaps. Many visitors never touch a car during a stay.

Getting here and getting out is the hard part. The small local airport is often affected by weather, the larger airports are one to two hours away by road, and day trips, trailheads beyond town and passes all need a car, ideally with winter tyres or four-wheel drive in the snow season.

Shopping in Telluride means a few blocks of Colorado Avenue: art galleries, Western-style clothing and jewellery boutiques, a couple of good bookshops and plenty of ski and outdoor gear shops. It is pleasant to browse and prices are high. Mountain Village adds some resort boutiques. There are no department stores, markets or crafts tradition of note, and nobody comes here to shop.

Telluride is one of the most expensive places to stay in North America. Rooms and rental houses in town and Mountain Village are scarce and priced for wealthy second-home owners, and the Christmas and New Year weeks and summer festival weekends push them higher still. Lift tickets, ski hire, guided activities and restaurant meals all sit at the top of the market. The free gondola and town buses save something, and staying in Ridgway or further out costs less but means a daily drive.

Telluride punches far above its size in summer. The Telluride Bluegrass Festival, held in Town Park beneath the canyon walls since the 1970s, is one of the best-known in the genre, and the summer calendar adds jazz, blues and chamber music festivals, with the famous film festival over the Labor Day weekend. The historic Sheridan Opera House hosts concerts, theatre and comedy through the year.

Outside the festivals, though, the offer is a few shows a week at most, with no orchestra, opera or theatre company of note. Plan around the summer calendar if music matters, and book festival tickets and rooms far ahead.

Telluride is a calm place to slow down, especially in summer evenings and in the quiet shoulder seasons, and the hotels in Mountain Village have full spas for after a day on the slopes. There is no bathing culture in the town itself, but the hot springs of the San Juans are within reach: a clothing-optional springs near Ridgway and the large public hot springs pool in Ouray are about an hour away, both good for an afternoon soak with mountain views. The altitude makes the first nights restless for some visitors.