X-Nico

2 unusual facts about San Juan Mountains


Red Ryder

Astride his mighty steed Thunder, Red was a tough cowpoke who lived on Painted Valley Ranch in the Blanco Basin of the San Juan Mountain Range with his aunt, the Duchess, and his juvenile sidekick, Little Beaver, who rode his horse, Papoose, when they took off to deal with the bad guys.

San Juan Mountains

The last large scale mines were the Sunnyside Mine near Silverton, which operated until late in the 20th century and the Idarado Mine on Red Mountain Pass that closed down in the 1970s.


Albert R. Ellingwood

He made first ascents of many peaks and routes in the Rocky Mountains, particularly in Colorado, including Lizard Head in the San Juan Mountains, Ellingwood Ridge on La Plata Peak in the Sawatch Range, and Crestone Needle in the Sangre de Cristo Range.

Animas River

The Animas River rises high in San Juan Mountains of Colorado at the confluence of the West and North forks at the ghost town of Animas Forks and flows south past the ghost towns of Eureka and Howardsville.

Cat gap

The La Garita Caldera is a large volcanic caldera located in the San Juan Mountains in southwestern Colorado, United States, and is one of a number of calderas that formed during a massive ignimbrite flare-up in Colorado, Utah, and Nevada during the Oligocene Epoch.


see also

A.D. Wilson

Wilson Peak - Elevation 14,017 feet - This peak high in the San Juan mountains above the old mining structures in the Silver Pick Basin was named for A.D. Wilson, a chief cartographer with the Hayden Survey.

Colorado Mineral Belt

In the San Juan Mountains the major finds were at Ouray, Silverton, Mount Sneffels, and Telluride where over 10 million troy ounces (311 t) of gold was mined.