Ouray made an ice park by spraying spare city water into a gorge

A short walk from Main Street, the town of Ouray does something most places never try: it grows ice on purpose. Each winter, crews take the City of Ouray’s excess spring-fed water, run it through a network of irrigation pipes, and let it drip from rows of ordinary shower heads over the walls of the Uncompahgre Gorge. Cold nights do the rest, and the rock turns into climbable ice.

The result is the Ouray Ice Park, which had its first winter of operation in 1994. It is run by a nonprofit, Ouray Ice Park, Inc., in partnership with the city, and admission is free. The park stretches along the gorge with a couple hundred routes, and it holds a world record as the largest human-made public ice-climbing park. You can also just walk in and watch climbers work the frozen walls.

Each January the park hosts the Ouray Ice Festival, a multi-day gathering of climbers and gear makers that doubles as the nonprofit’s main fundraiser. It is widely described as one of North America’s biggest ice-climbing events.

Because it is grown ice, the park has a real season, set hours, and posted rules, and it does close. Check current status and dates at ourayicepark.com before you go.