San Juan Travel

San Juan Travel. . The San Juan Mountains have long posed a barrier to travel and, by extension, to economic development. Early miners had to transport ore via pack animals over rocky trails, a process so inefficient that it rendered many claims unworkable. Matters improved after 1877, when master road-builder Otto Mears opened the first of three wagon roads through the San Juans; but the region's remoteness, difficult terrain, and unpredictable weather continued to drive up freight costs, making mine development unattractive. In 1889 Mears completed the Silverton Railway's route to the mining district, the area's first truly economical shipping option, and Mears's wagon roads were paved into highways in the 1920s (including present-day U.S. 550, the "Million Dollar Highway"). But despite all these improvements, transportation remained a barrier to prosperity. Today, ironically, the old rocky mining trails are important regional economic assets, drawing tourists who seek to explore the San Juan ghost towns. , Captions , Lower Left: Otto Mears, the "Pathfinder of the San Juans," points out the grandeur of his Silverton and Red Mountain Railroad to an admirer in 1888. , Courtesy Denver Public Library Western History Collection , Center: The construction of toll roads and railroads made travel between towns easier and safer. Nevertheless, sturdy mules and burros continued to offer the most reliable form of transportation over winding mountain trails to distant mines and homesteads. , Colorado Historical Society , Upper Right: Photographers like William Henry Jackson could not resist the spectacular views that Otto Mears's Ouray Toll Road offered travelers in the late nineteenth century. These spectacular and at times nerve-wracking views can still be experienced today on the Million Dollar Highway that follows many of the early toll ways. , Colorado Historical Society , Lower Right: Background; In addition to steep grades and dangerous curves, mountain weather also presented a formidable obstacle to travelers. Inclement weather could descend at any time, as in this July 1897 snowfall in Ouray. , Colorado Historical Society