Telluride, CO: A Traveler’s Perspective

Telluride is without a doubt the most interesting town I have ever been to…and definitely one of the most beautiful.

Prior to 2013, I had only heard of Telluride in relation to the Telluride Film Festival that I read about in my grandmother’s highly educational tabloid magazines. I never thought about Telluride again until I was living in Colorado Springs.  I was googling “hiking in Colorado” when I saw the Telluride scenery for the first time.

I wasn’t sure because I had never been there, but I was pretty certain I had just discovered the most amazing place since the New World.

It took me three long years before I was able to plan a trip up to Telluride.  In those three years, I heard good and bad reports of the town.  Some people said that they didn’t like the “feel” of the town. Others said it was full of hippies.  Still others said it was awesome.

As I always do when I am confronted with other peoples opinions, I determined that I would be the judge of all that!

According to its website, there’s a debate as to how Telluride got its name.  Some say it’s named after tellurium, which used to be mined in the area.  Others say it earned its name from the oft-repeated phrase “To Hell You Ride” that was spoken in reference to traveling there.

Well, I’m here to tell you, it’s certainly not hellish, but it is unique.  Here are my top observations about this mountain town from a third party perspective.  Keep in mind, these observations were made over the course of a 4 day period, so they may or may not be an accurate picture of the real-deal!

(Click here to see other Telluride attractions!!)

1. The first thing that struck us was how young everyone was. You often hear about Telluride coupled with the Hollywood elite of our society. Heck, Tom Cruise used to own property up there! If you look up prices of real estate and condos you kind of envision a place that is full of wealthy middle age people who have made it already. That was not the case of the Telluride that I saw.  The large majority of the people in town looked to be modern-day hippies in their 20’s and 30’s.  The only thing that kept going through my mind was, “How the heck are these people making it here??” I still don’t have a clear answer, but it certainly was an interesting first impression.

2. It’s the most dog-friendly place I have ever seen. Ever. EVER. Like, if you have a dog and are going to Telluride, bring it! This town is set up for dogs! There were places along Main street for you to tie your dog to while you shop inside the store! Dog bowls that were full of water were set out on Main street every few blocks! Outside of their grocery store, there was a “Barking Lot” for people to tie their dogs up while they went inside – complete with water bowls for them! Everyone walked the street with their dogs on and off leash! Even a few of the restaurants allowed dogs inside (as seen below)! Cassie had the best time I’m pretty sure she’s ever had, simply because she was in a place that allowed her to stay by our side at all times.

3. With a 15mph citywide speed limit, the pedestrians have the right away…and they know it! So, I’m from Ft Worth, and crossing a busy street is not really a simple matter…especially if it’s an intersection like 7th & University! In Telluride, more than I’ve ever seen, pedestrians have the right away.  As soon as you drive into town, the speed limit is posted at 15mph – in the whole town.  You can tell the people are used to it because they step very confidently into the road right in front of your car. I figure they do this because 1. You aren’t even going fast enough to hit them, and 2. You can tell this place highly favors human rights. Heck, by the end of my few days, I was even stepping into the streets like it didn’t matter! And guess what, the cars just slowed down and waited without becoming violently angry and giving us the finger.  Miraculous.

(I have a strong suspicion that marijuana has something to do with all their patience.)

4. Everyone seems to be very physically active. I saw mom’s bicycling with attached baby carriages.  I saw people riding double bikes. (There were more people biking than driving, which makes sense, with how small the town is)  People were doing yoga and tight rope walking in the town park, and I even saw a girl doing a headstand on something in the middle of the lake. (Can someone please say show-off??) That was definitely a first for me!

5. Telluride stands for something. They make this clear in their welcome sign on the outskirts of town when it says it’s a “Civil Liberties safe zone”.  It doesn’t take more than about 5 minutes to figure out how they feel about environmentalism and civil rights.  It’s easy to see why some people would call Telluride “full of hippies”. It was interesting to see such a difference between this town and where I’m from.Take the pics below as an example:

I personally liked the laid back and chill attitude that everyone had because laid back and chill people mind their own business…which brings me to my 6th observation:

6. I wouldn’t call the townspeople friendly, but they certainly did mind their own business. Take Santa Fe for example.  Super liberal, environmentally/eco-conscious, and some would say, hippie.  However…people in Santa Fe can not mind their own business.  I leave my dog in my car with the windows down for literally five minutes and I’ve got people about to call the cops on me. (I’m not joking, that really happened.)  People at Starbucks berate me for having a diesel truck.  (This also really happened in Santa Fe) Telluride was a refreshing break from that.  You still had the environmentally and eco-conscious citizens, but instead of being all up in your business they barely recognized your existence, let alone try to interfere with your actions. There’s no Southern hospitality to these people, no smiles and nods as you pass each other in the street.  At first, I was ready to label them as snobs who have the “we grew here, you flew here”/”you come here, we’re from here” attitudes.  However, as my other half pointed out, at least they leave you alone to live your life and have a good time.

7. They really protect their beautiful environment. As we were sitting on a hilltop between Telluride and Mountain Village, I noticed something about Telluride. See if you can spot it:

Notice the mountains surrounding the town and the emerald green field at its far end.  It’s still relatively undeveloped. For a town that dates back to the late 1800s, that’s pretty impressive. Look at the picture above and imagine it with lavish homes dotted all over the mountainside and crammed in next to each other in the valley. That let’s-jam-pack-everyone-up-the-mountainside is how some other mountain towns are, but not here.  Part of Telluride’s beauty is it’s truly majestic mountains, and I think they understand how developments can severely detract from that. Kudos to you, Telluride.

8. There are no fast food restaurants and no chains. Now, this can be a good and bad thing, as local eateries tend to be more expensive than fast food. Every place that we ate at was really top quality and often had organic options. On the other hand, all the places we ate at were pretty expensive as well. I recommend Brown Dog Pizza and Esperanza’s. Those were our two favorites!

9. Telluride has the market cornered when it comes to tourism.  This place is pretty much beautiful year round, and they offer tourist attractions year round. I’m not kidding! They have skiing all winter, and then sometime in the early summer they start having festivals that last until winter again! Every week there is some kind of festival or event going on! Check out Telluride’s website to see exactly what I’m talking about – or to help you plan your trip!

These are just some of the observations we made of this cool little mountain town, and I wanted to share them with y’all! All in all, I stand by my first statement of this post…it’s the most interesting town I’ve ever been to, and I plan to travel back many times!

I realize my observations are based off a three-day stay, and I’m sure there are many of you who both agree and disagree! Leave me a comment and tell me about your experiences!! How were they different?? How were they the same?? I’d love to hear from you!

Until next time!