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The 'San Juan Mountains' are a rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado. 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 is now uneconomical in the region, although independent prospectors still work claims throughout the range. The last large scale holdouts were the Standard Metals operation on Red Mountain Pass which operated until late in the 20th century and the ill-fated Summitville mine on the eastern slope of the San Juans.
The Summitville mine was the scene of a major environmental disaster in the 1990s when the hastily installed 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, the La Garita Caldera, is 35 miles in diameter. Large beds of lava, some extending under the floor of the San Luis Valley, are characteristic of the eastern slope of the San Juans.
There is some tourism in the region, with the narrow gauge railway between Durango and Silverton being an attraction in the summer. Jeeping is popular on the old trails which linked the historic mining camps, particularly thrilling is the Black Bear Road. Visiting old ghost towns is popular, as are wilderness trekking and mountain climbing. The San Juans are extremely steep; only Telluride has made the transition to ski resort. Purgatory (now known as Durango Mountain Resort) is a small ski area north of Durango near the Tamarron Resort. There is also skiing on Wolf Creek Pass at the Wolf Creek ski area. Recently Silverton Mountain ski area has begun operation in Silverton. It is a highly rated extreme ski area and is currently available by reservation only.
The Rio Grande rises on 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 the Colorado River.
The San Juan and Uncompahgre National Forests cover a large portion of the San Juan Mountains.

Contents

Highest peaks

History of the area

See also

References

External links

Highest peaks

The 15 Highest Peaks of the
San Juan Mountains This table includes only mountain peaks with a minimum of 100 meters (328 feet) of topographic prominence.

Rank	Mountain Peak	Elevation
1	Uncompahgre Peak	14,309 feet = 4361.4 m
2	Mount Wilson	14,246 feet = 4342.2 m
3	Mount Sneffels	14,153 feet = 4313.8 m
4	Mount Eolus	14,083 feet = 4292.5 m
5	Windom Peak	14,082 feet = 4292.2 m
6	Sunlight Peak	14,059 feet = 4285.2 m
7	Handies Peak	14,048 feet = 4281.8 m
8	Redcloud Peak	14,034 feet = 4277.6 m
9	Wilson Peak	14,017 feet = 4272.4 m
10	Wetterhorn Peak	14,015 feet = 4271.8 m
11	San Luis Peak	14,014 feet = 4271.5 m
12	Sunshine Peak	14,001 feet = 4267.5 m
13	Stewart Peak	13,983 feet = 4262.0 m
14	Pigeon Peak	13,972 feet = 4258.7 m
15	Gladstone Peak PB	13,913 feet = 4240.7 m

History of the area

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 the eight hour day, which had been approved in a referendum by 72 percent of Colorado voters.Roughneck—The Life aand Times of Big Bill Haywood, Peter Carlson, 1983, page 65. The new association consolidated the power of thirty-six mining properties in San Miguel, Ouray, and San Juan counties.The Corpse On Boomerang Road, Telluride's War On Labor 1899-1908, MaryJoy Martin, 2004, page 201. The SJDMA refused to consider any reduction in hours or increase in wages, helping to provoke a bitter strike.

See also

★ Geography of Colorado

★ Mountain peaks of Colorado

★ Mountain ranges of Colorado

★ Rocky Mountains

★ State of Colorado

References

External links

★ Rocky Mountains @ Peakbagger

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★ Southern Rocky Mountains @ Peakbagger

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★ San Juan Mountains @ Peakbagger