Western Slope
Montrose County
22 Porch Notes tied to Montrose County — the local details that change from one part of Colorado to the next.
Money and taxes (1)
Water and land (3)
Water and land
On rural Montrose County land, a well permit is not the same as unlimited water
Domestic wells on rural parcels in Montrose County come with permit conditions, and having a well does not mean a property has unlimited water.
Read note ->Water and land
The Black Canyon's walls are some of the oldest rock in Colorado
The dark, striped cliffs of Black Canyon of the Gunnison near Montrose are nearly two-billion-year-old Precambrian rock, laced with pink pegmatite that gives the Painted Wall its name.
Read note ->Water and land
The Gunnison Tunnel: why the Montrose valley is farmland
A 5.8-mile tunnel bored under Vernal Mesa from 1905 to 1909 still carries Gunnison River water that turns the dry Uncompahgre Valley into Montrose's farm country.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire (9)
Outdoors and wildfire
Black Canyon of the Gunnison sits right at Montrose's doorstep
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park is just outside Montrose, and the National Park Service is the place to check entrance fees, road and rim status, and inner-canyon rules before a visit.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Black Canyon's night sky is dark enough to be certified
Black Canyon of the Gunnison near Montrose is a certified International Dark Sky Park, so the National Park Service keeps it open at night for stargazing under simple low-light rules.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Montrose County has a lot of BLM land, but it comes with rules
Much of Montrose County's open country is BLM public land managed by the Uncompahgre Field Office, where seasonal closures and travel rules apply even though the land is public.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Montrose put a whitewater park right downtown
The free Montrose Water Sports Park drops six engineered waves into a 1,000-foot stretch of the Uncompahgre River, close to the middle of town.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Montrose's high country is the Uncompahgre National Forest
The mountains above Montrose are part of the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests, managed locally by the Ouray Ranger District based in Montrose.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Montrose's nearest big reservoir, Ridgway, is a short drive into Ouray County
Ridgway State Park, about 22 miles south of Montrose on US 550, is in Ouray County, but it is the closest big reservoir for Montrose boaters, where motorboats need a pre-launch inspection and paddlers should clean, drain, and dry.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
The Dominguez-Escalante NCA carries the Gunnison River past Montrose
The lower Gunnison River north of Montrose runs through the BLM's Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area, a red-rock float and hiking area that spans Montrose, Delta, and Mesa counties.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
The Gunnison Gorge near Montrose is wild water reached on foot
North of Montrose, the BLM-managed Gunnison Gorge holds a wilderness and a Gold Medal trout river, reached by hiking in from Peach Valley Road trailheads.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
The Uncompahgre Plateau is Montrose's big backyard, with travel rules
The Uncompahgre Plateau west of Montrose is mostly BLM and national forest land where dispersed camping and off-road travel follow designated-route rules, not 'drive and camp anywhere.'
Read note ->Cars and driving (4)
Cars and driving
Leaving Montrose by car often means a mountain pass
Montrose sits in a valley, but the highways out of it climb mountain passes that can bring chain laws and closures, so checking road conditions before a winter trip is routine.
Read note ->Cars and driving
Owl Creek Pass is a seasonal back road into Montrose's mountains
Owl Creek Pass, reached by the Cimarron Road south of US 50, is an unpaved national forest route into the high country that opens and closes with the seasons and is not a maintained highway.
Read note ->Cars and driving
The Unaweep-Tabeguache byway runs remote canyon country in Montrose County's West End
The Unaweep-Tabeguache Scenic and Historic Byway follows highways 141 and 145 through remote canyon country, including Montrose County's West End around Naturita and Nucla, with long stretches that have no fuel and no cell service.
Read note ->Cars and driving
The West Elk Loop scenic byway anchors at Montrose's Black Canyon
The West Elk Loop is a long Colorado scenic and historic byway that uses the Black Canyon near Montrose as one of its anchors, looping through mountain and ranch country over a full day of driving.
Read note ->Local rules (1)
History and culture (4)
History and culture
Montrose grew up around the railroad in the 1880s
The town of Montrose dates to the early 1880s, when the Denver and Rio Grande narrow-gauge railroad reached the Uncompahgre Valley and turned it into a regional shipping and supply hub.
Read note ->History and culture
Montrose's old railroad depot is now the county history museum
The Montrose County Historical Museum is housed in the historic Denver & Rio Grande depot in Montrose, a Mission Revival building on the National Register that tells the valley's settlement and railroad story.
Read note ->History and culture
The Ute Indian Museum tells the Ute story of the Uncompahgre Valley
Just south of Montrose, the Ute Indian Museum is a History Colorado site on land tied to Ute leader Ouray and his wife Chipeta, and it is the place to learn the Uncompahgre Valley's Ute history.
Read note ->History and culture
Western Montrose County's uranium years left a real legacy at Uravan
The former town and mill of Uravan, in far western Montrose County, was a major uranium and vanadium center whose contamination became an EPA Superfund cleanup, a history best learned from official sources.
Read note ->