Telluride Colorado - July 11, 2020
The original plan was to drive the San Juan Skyway scenic route from Ridgway State Park to Mancos State Park with a quick stop in Telluride to eat lunch and find some ice cream. We had so much fun in Telluride that we stayed for almost four hours.
The drive from Ridgway to Telluride was pretty, crossing over Lizard Head Pass on part of the San Juan Skyway Scenic Byway. We drove straight down E Colorado Ave, the main street in the town of Telluride, to the other end of the business district where we found free parking in the Town Park. The park was really nice with a community pool, ball fields, bike park, picnic tables, and a campground. We took advantage of the picnic tables in the shade in the beautiful setting for our picnic lunch, watching hummingbirds sip the nectar in the small flower garden nearby.
While Left Buddy (LB) was zooming in on Telluride in Google Maps to figure out the lay of the land, he noticed some ski lifts labeled as free gondolas. A quick web search indicated that yes, there were free gondola rides from the town, up to San Sophia Station and down the other side to Telluride Mountain Village. Then there was another free gondola that went to the other side of the Mountain Village. Well, that sounded like fun and in our price range! We walked down Colorado Avenue to check out the shops and architecture, then got in line for the gondola. The architecture along Colorado Avenue was mostly in an old style, but some of the buildings looked new.
It was only about a ten minute wait to get on the gondola. They only allowed one household per gondola car up to a max of eight people. Masks were required to be worn during the whole ride. Each car was quickly disinfected by a staff member before the next passengers hopped on board. All the windows of the car were left open to allow fresh air in. It looked like the popular thing to do was to take the gondola up to the top and either hike or bike down. There were hooks on the outside of the gondola cars to hang the bikes from. We rode the gondola all the way down to the Mountain Village, then switched to the other free gondola to the other side of the village. There were no lines or waiting for either gondola in the Mountain Village, but they did make us get off and come around to the entrance again to go back across the village.
When we reached San Sophia Station the second time, we got off to check out the views from on top. There really wasn’t anything more to see than what we could see from the gondola. The attendant warned us when we got off that it may be a while before he can get us back on a gondola because most people who were riding up from the village were continuing over and down to the town of Telluride. We didn’t mind. It turned out to only be about a ten minute wait. However, we did notice him talk on his radio as a line started to form at San Sophia Station. We’re assuming he was calling down to have them send a couple of empty cars up and a couple of empty cars showed up a few minutes later.
Right Buddy (RB) quickly googled a place to get ice cream in town. The first thing that popped up was Telluride Truffles. Having decent luck before with ice cream at chocolate shops recently, such as Enstrom Candies in Fruita and Mouse’s Chocolates and Coffee in Ouray, she stopped searching and thought it would be fine. Wrong! First when we arrived at the location where Google Maps said Telluride Truffles was, there was a sign that they had moved. When we walked into the new location, there were no other customers inside and we did not see an ice cream counter. We should have turned around and walked back out, but we didn’t. The ice cream flavors were listed on the board. It looked like they were still getting situated in their new location. Maybe they dip the ice cream in the back. We ordered two very expensive scoops each. They brought out four cups of already dipped ice cream from the freezer. The ice cream was OK, but it tasted like ice cream from the supermarket. Nothing special. Oh well. We’ll research that a little better next time.
The public restrooms outside the Town Park Pool were open, so we took advantage of them for the second time before hitting the road again. Our destination for the night was Mancos State Park. We continued our drive along the San Juan Skyway Scenic Byway to Dolores before cutting over to Mancos. It was a scenic drive indeed.
Sometimes the things you discover along the way are more enjoyable than the things you plan out in advance. The free gondola rides in Telluride were one of those times. What exciting things have you discovered lately?
Check out our related video: Telluride Colorado
(RB)