The San Juan Mountains is a high and rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico . 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 has ended in the region, although independent prospectors still work claims throughout the range. The last large-scale mines were the Sunnyside Mine near Silverton, which operated until late in the 20th century, and the Idarado Mine on Red Mountain Pass , which closed in the 1970s. Famous old San Juan mines include the Camp Bird and Smuggler Union mines , both located between Telluride and Ouray.
26-525: Cimarron Ridge is a ridge in the San Juan Mountains in southwestern Colorado . The ridge runs north-south and occupies parts of Gunnison , Montrose , Ouray , and Hinsdale counties. The ridge parallels U.S. Highway 550 , and parts of the ridge can be seen from points along the highway. Peaks along the ridge include Courthouse Mountain , elevation 12,172 ft (3,710 m), and Chimney Rock , elevation 10,958 ft (3,340 m). Chimney Rock
52-787: A few months later. Monarch Airlines was serving the airport in 1987 with de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter turboprop flights from Aspen, Crested Butte, Grand Junction and Vail with the latter service being flown from the Eagle County Regional Airport . Rocky Mountain Airways operating as Continental Express on behalf of Continental Airlines served Telluride from 1986 through mid-1991 flying 19-passenger Beechcraft 1900C and 50-passenger de Havilland Canada DHC-7 Dash 7 turboprops nonstop to Denver (DEN). Some flights stopped in Aspen (ASE) during
78-584: A result, facilities in the towns and cities of the region are among the highest in the nation. Telluride Airport , at an elevation of 9,070 feet, is the highest in the United States with regularly scheduled commercial service. Human history at the eastern edge of the San Juan Mountains dates back thousands of years. Smithsonian archaeologists have identified paleo-Indian sites that are about 5,000 years old, located near Great Sand Dunes National Park and at
104-776: Is a public airport six miles west of Telluride , in San Miguel County , Colorado , United States. It is owned by the Telluride Regional Airport Authority. At an elevation of 9,078 feet (2767 m) above sea level, it was the highest commercial airport in North America with scheduled passenger flights when Great Lakes Airlines resumed scheduled passenger service in December 2016; however, those flights ceased in March 2018. In August 2018, commercial service returned with
130-600: Is also a popular destination for endurance sports like trail running and mountain biking; Silverton is home to the Hardrock 100 Endurance Run one of the most difficult and technical ultra-marathons in the world. The Rio Grande drains 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
156-466: Is designed in part to allow larger aircraft to utilize the airport. Telluride Regional Airport is the destination in the "Telluride Landing" mission supplied with Microsoft Flight Simulator X . The player must land a Bombardier Learjet 45 with passengers on board. Part of an episode of The Grand Tour was filmed at the airport, in which the presenters tried to get some Jaguar Cars up to 100 mph (160 km/h) and then stop before going over
182-456: Is known for appearing in the 1969 western motion picture True Grit and is considered among the most difficult peaks to climb in Colorado. The ridge is made up of green and gray tuff breccia and is the "erosional remains of a larger volcanic pile that surrounded several volcanoes." The Cimarron Ridge Formation takes its name from the ridge. San Juan Mountains The Summitville mine
208-437: Is one of the few regional jet airliners in service capable of operating at such high field elevations as TEX. Telluride Regional Airport covers 542 acres (219 ha) and has one runway , 9/27, 7,111 by 100 feet (2,167 by 30 m). The runway is on a plateau and still dips slightly in the center, although the dip was more pronounced prior to a renovation in 2009. It can be a challenging but beautiful approach for pilots. In
234-512: The Colorado River . The San Juan and Uncompahgre National Forests cover a large portion of the San Juan Mountains. The Continental Divide Trail , a long-distance hiking trail follows the crest of the San Juan Mountains. The Weminuche Wilderness , Colorado's largest wilderness area, with an area of 499,771 acres (202,250 ha) is in the San Juans. The San Juan Mountains are also distinctive for their high altitude plateaus and peaks. As
260-520: The Fairchild Dornier 328JET on a daily flight to Denver. The service will operate year-round with the exception of two short seasonal breaks in the spring and fall. Between April 7 and November 4, 2009, the Telluride runway was closed for a $ 24 million runway renovation. The west end of the runway was lowered 30 feet, and the east end 14 ft. The material removed was placed in the center, removing
286-675: The United Express contract formerly held by Mesa Airlines. Great Lakes flew Beechcraft 1900Ds nonstop to Denver and changed over to operating under their own identity in early 2002 after the carrier lost its designation as a United Express code sharing air carrier. Service to Telluride continued until September 16, 2014. Great Lakes returned to the airport in December 2016 with flights to Denver and later Phoenix and Los Angeles with one stop en route; however, all service ended once again on March 30, 2018, when Great Lakes ceased all of their operations with turboprop aircraft. Boutique Air
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#1733114577375312-551: The 1986/1987 ski season. The four-engine, STOL capable Dash 7 was the largest aircraft ever to provide scheduled passenger service into Telluride. The Continental Express service to Denver was operated by Britt Airways from mid-1991 through March 8, 1994, then replaced with Continental Connection service operated by GP Express Airlines until January 1995. StatesWest Airlines flew Beechcraft 1900C turboprops nonstop to Laughlin, NV/Bullhead City, AZ with continuing service to Orange County and Los Angeles on Saturdays only during
338-458: The 1989/1990 ski season. SkyWest Airlines operating as the Delta Connection flew nonstop Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia service to Los Angeles ( LAX ) during the 1990/1991, 1991/1992, and 1992/1993 ski seasons. WestAir Commuter Airlines operating as United Express flew an Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia turboprop nonstop to Los Angeles on Saturdays only during the 1992/1993 ski season. In 1990
364-479: The Denver flights ended in early 1998 being replaced by Great Lakes Airlines. The Phoenix flights were upgraded to operate with de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Dash 8 turboprops in 1998 and then changed over to operate as US Airways Express in 2007 when America West Airlines and US Airways merged. All service by Mesa Airlines ended on April 4, 2011. Great Lakes Airlines began service to Telluride in mid 1998 by taking over
390-509: The Mesa Airlines flights to Denver began operating as United Express on behalf of United Airlines and in 1992 the Phoenix flights began operating as America West Express on behalf of America West Airlines . Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia and de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Dash 8 aircraft were periodically added to the flight schedules. The Albuquerque flights ended after the 1992/1993 ski season and
416-464: The airport had 9,402 aircraft operations, average 26 per day: 99% general aviation and <1% scheduled commercial . 27 aircraft were then based at this airport: 67% single- engine , 11% multi-engine, 14% jet , <1% helicopter and <1% glider . Mesa Airlines introduced the first commercial airline service to Telluride on December 19, 1985, with flights to Albuquerque and Denver using Beechcraft 1900C turboprops. Flights to Phoenix were added
442-749: The airport's location on a plateau with a thousand-foot (300 m) drop to the San Miguel River below. Private business jets operate into the Telluride Regional Airport on a regular basis. Other scheduled passenger jet service is available via the Montrose Regional Airport (MTJ), the Durango-La Plata County Airport (DRO) and the Grand Junction Regional Airport (GJT). In the year ending 2019,
468-428: The eastern slope of the San Juans. Tourism is a major part of the regional economy, with the narrow gauge railway between Durango and Silverton being an attraction mostly in the summer and fall. Off-roading is popular on the old trails which linked the historic mining camps, including the notorious Black Bear Road . Visiting old ghost towns is popular, as is wilderness trekking and mountain climbing . Many of
494-500: The eight-hour day , which had been approved in a referendum by 72 percent of Colorado voters . The new association consolidated the power of thirty-six mining properties in San Miguel , Ouray , and San Juan counties. The SJDMA refused to consider any reduction in hours or increase in wages, helping to provoke a bitter strike. Telluride Airport Telluride Regional Airport ( IATA : TEX , ICAO : KTEX , FAA LID : TEX )
520-546: The introduction of Boutique Air , and the airport remains the highest airfield in the U.S. with scheduled passenger flights, and the second highest overall airfield in the US behind Leadville Airport . Denver Air Connection is currently the only airline flying scheduled passenger flights from Telluride with daily nonstop flights to Denver and Phoenix . Denver Air operates the Fairchild-Dornier 328JET into Telluride. The 328JET
546-676: The northern edge of the San Luis Valley, close to Poncha Pass. This suggests that early human presence in the region dates back to ancient times, long before the establishment of modern landmarks. Mining operators in the San Juan mountain area formed the San Juan District Mining Association (SJDMA) in 1903, as a direct result of a Western Federation of Miners proposal to the Telluride Mining Association for
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#1733114577375572-463: The notorious dip in the middle of the runway. In addition, 41 feet of length was added to the runway and retaining walls were built on the side. In 2010, crews widened the airfield's safety areas from 150 feet to 250 feet, installed an Engineered Materials Arrestor System (EMAS) and finished ancillary aspects of the projects. Work on the EMAS was scheduled at night to prevent disrupting operations. This system
598-560: The old mining camps are popular sites of summer homes . Though the San Juans are extremely steep and receive much snow, so far only Telluride has made the transition to a major ski resort . Purgatory Resort , once known as Durango Mountain Resort, is a small ski area 26 miles north of Durango. There is also skiing on Wolf Creek Pass at the Wolf Creek ski area . Recently Silverton Mountain ski area has begun operation near Silverton. The range
624-437: The past during winter months, about 20% of the scheduled commuter airline flights were diverting to other airports because of abruptly adverse landing conditions. This is not unusual since other mountain airports like Sun Valley have similar statistics. When flying to the Telluride Regional Airport, pilots must be aware of unique issues impacting the airfield including high terrain exceeding 14,000 feet (4,300 m), as well as
650-530: Was the scene of a major environmental disaster in the 1990s when the 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, La Garita Caldera , is 35 miles (56 km) in diameter. Large beds of lava , some extending under the floor of the San Luis Valley , are characteristic of
676-446: Was then recruited to reinstate commercial airline service at Telluride with flights to Denver beginning on August 29, 2018. The carrier uses 9-seat single-engine Pilatus PC-12 turboprop aircraft. Service to Cortez with continuing service to Phoenix was added in mid-2019 but all service ended on October 31, 2019. Key Lime Air operating as Denver Air Connection began the first scheduled jet service into Telluride on May 15, 2019, with
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