Ouray, Colorado

First off it is pronounced "YOUR"-ray...lol...found that out quickly. It is nicknamed the Switzerland of the USA.  It really is that beautiful and mountain-y. There are very few chain restaurants or hotels in town which is great.  All the motels are motor court style and are kept up so well.  Flowers were everywhere.  The downtown area is too cute- with shops, bars and a big local hot spring fed pool ($12.00 for adults- all day until 10pm)

The hotel we stayed at was the Box Canyon Lodge. http://info.boxcanyonouray.com/colorado-vacation/  It was $150.00 per night including tax. light breakfast- muffins, juice and apple. The rooms were older but VERY clean. The beds were comfy and the sheets were super soft. There is a self service laundry. There are 4 hot tubs filled with hot spring water- they are the small-4 person- cedar type hot tubs. The hotel was full when we were there so the tubs filled up quickly. It felt a little strange climbing into small tubs with 2 other strangers.  The next day we went back in the early afternoon and had the tubs to ourselves.

 

In town we ate a "420(lol) burger" at Maggie's Burgers http://www.yelp.com/biz/maggies-kitchen-ouray-2- (we should have split it- it was amazing- so we ate it all) and grabbed a beer at The Grumpypants Beer House right next to Maggies http://ouraylehouse.com/. We ate on the porch, shared a table with another couple.  It was a great way to end a hike!

There were 2 hikes in town worthy of your time. The first was the super easy Box Canyon Park
http://www.ouraycolorado.com/ouray-activities/Box-Canon-Falls-Park.php. $4.00 is the admission to see the water flowing through the town's slot canyon.  There were walkways and stairs that let you get up close and personal with the slot canyon!

The other hike we enjoyed was the Perimeter Trail.  The online guide says that it is 5 miles- I say "bull".  My Jawbone https://jawbone.com/up?gclid=CIjViO7opcACFeZd7Aodk20ACQ&gclsrc=ds
showed it as about 7 miles- 7 tough miles- but worth it- but bring rain gear- an unexpected rain episode left us very wet.  We did the whole trail in 2 days- about 6 hours total (we broke it into 2 parts). See pictures below.  The trail was varied and most of it was shady.

 The trail went through the rock.

 Bridges were built over creeks.

 Cascade Falls (lower) was a easy hike off the main trail.

                     Lots of steps up^

Beautiful slot canyons- This trail deserves an award. There are many other trails that begin off of this trail and go into the back country. http://www.gjhikes.com/2012/09/ouray-perimeter-trail.html
You can go to trip advisor and see comments about the altitude and time it would take.

If you want me to help you plan travel - contact me at jackiebarnes217@hotmail.com