ironton

You are in for a memorable day of skiing trails at the Ironton Park Cross-Country Ski Area. From whichever direction you approach Ironton Park (9 miles south of Ouray, 15 miles north of Silverton), the road is steep, windy and its unguarded drop-offs arresting. But the anxiety of sliding off Hwy 550 switches to that of excitement soon enough…

In a fairly level valley at a point less than a mile north of mile marker 85, a wide spot plowed free of snow on the east side of the highway marks the parking lot and easiest access to the trails.

Snow conditions of deep powder to icy may be encountered. The “green” groomed trails, loops of four clearly marked miles groomed with set Nordic track by the Ouray County Nordic Council (OCNC), trace valley contours of mostly moderate terrain. The trails are groomed as soon as enough snow covers the ground, usually sometime in November.

Several miles of more difficult “blue trails” are not groomed, and generally follow old roads and trails to mining claims on the mountainsides. If you have the skills and are looking for amazing views of mountain scenery, ascend these trails. History buffs will opt for the groomed trails. The trail system is routed through the historic ghost town of Ironton where several buildings still stand. They’re open too, but take care while exploring within them as the stairways and floorboards are broken or of questionable strength.

Historic sites along the trail

This guide provides a brief description for a few of the Ironton / Red Mountain area’s historic places.  Additional information is available at some of these sites or at the Ouray County Museum.

Larson Brothers Mine

This mine is name for Milt and Harry Larson who inherited it from their fathering the 1920’s and worked it for decades.  After Harry died in the 1940’s; Milt became the last resident of Ironton until his death nearly 20 years later.

Ironton Townsite

Ironton, founded in 1833, was once a thriving mining community.  It had 325 inhabitants in 1890 and was a supply center for the northern end of the Red Mountain Mining District.  A few recently stabilized buildings remain at the southern end along the Townsite Loop.

Silver Belle Mine

The dump here is the remains of a profitable mine which operated from 1880-1894.  Its ten levels produced over a million dollars in silver.

Colorado Boy Mine

The Colorado Boy loop passes the recently stabilized Colorado Boy head frame.  Its shaft is several hundred feet deep and follows an ore vein that was once the core of a volcano.

Corkscrew Trestle

This trestle once supported a large pipeline built to convey tailings from the Idarado Mine to a pond in Ironton Park.

Saratoga Smelter

The smelter completed the northern extension of the Silverton Railway Line, which the top of Red Mountain Pass.  The railroad, built in the 1880s, was profitable for a couple of decades.  Though the smelter was constructed in the mid-1880s and processed gold and silver ore from rich Red Mountain mines, little remains today.  Much of its material was used to build a ski lodge, seven towers and an 1,800′ ski run at the north end of Ironton Park.  The lodge burned to the ground in a 1940’s accident.  Now all that remains is the large stone building next to the highway.

Idarado Mine

Today, the north end of the townsite loop trail circles the Idarado mine tailings pond, which is filled with waste rock from the mill that was further up the valley.  Very active during WWII, the mine was one of the largest in the San Juan Mountains, formed by consolidating over 100 different mining claims.  Large amounts of gold, silver, lead and zinc were produced.  The mine is made up of over 80 miles of tunnels.  The main, or “Treasury” Tunnel, situated south toward Red Mountain Pass, extend through the mountains to Telluride.