Red Mountain

Each year, one million vehicles traverse the winding, precarious Highway 550, known as the “Million Dollar Highway.” Thousands more venture off the blacktop annually to ski, hike, and climb. What most visitors don’t know is that half of the land visible from Highway 550 consists of private mining claims. As time passed and hard-rock mining lost its luster, mining claims were patented and became privately owned by individuals, investors, and corporations.

Red Mountain is surrounded by the Uncompahgre and San Juan National Forests and is located within the triangle formed by Ouray, Silverton, and Telluride, in southwestern Colorado.

In 1881, Red Mountain was a booming mining town and home to 3,000 people. Today, Red Mountain Pass and its surrounding lands are one of Colorado’s great tourist attractions. In 1998, Bev Rich, director of the San Juan County Historical Society and Red Mountain Task Force member, took inventory of Red Mountain and quickly realized its fate. “We looked at each other and said, you know, this is private land. Whoever owns it controls its destiny,” Rich recalled. “To save this, we’ve got to buy it.”

Community members held an ad hoc meeting in Ouray, and about 35 people showed up to discuss what they might do. Fifteen of them formed what became known as the Red Mountain Task Force.

“We knew that large blocks of these mining claims were on the market, and we got the wild idea we could buy them,” says Bob Risch, an Ouray native who chaired the task force. “The first thing we realized was this was going to be a big project, and we would need help,” he recalls.

The task force approached TPL to help to acquire these lands to preserve Red Mountain’s surroundings, wildlife, and cultural history. We partnered with many organizations to tackle this complex project involving scores of landowners, difficult property ownership questions, and potential clean-up liability at old mining sites.

Once a plan was in place, the project gathered momentum. “The Task Force did a grassroots campaign like none other and got a lot of letters onto their representatives’ and senators’ desks. That’s when everyone took notice,” recalls former TPL project manager Eric Love.

Colorado’s two senators at that time, Ben Nighthorse Campbell and Wayne Allard, Third District Congressman Scott McInnis, and Governor Bill Owens went to the mat and secured $5 million from the Land and Water Conservation Fund that year.

Idarado Mining Company helped the task force reach the finish line. They owned most of the mining claims and wanted to shut down and sell all its Red Mountain holdings, preferably for conservation as public land.

Today, this recreational wonderland for hikers, mountain bike enthusiasts, climbers, and off-road vehicle users is permanently protected for everyone’s benefit, now and for generations to come.