Western Slope
Ouray County
Property taxes, marriage licenses, vehicle services, and many public records run through Ouray County. Permits and local rules may sit with a town or city instead, so match the office to the exact address.
Official county shortcuts
Take the task to the office that handles it
These links go straight to the official county or regional office shown. Check that page for current documents, hours, appointments, fees, and address-specific instructions. A city may run its own permit office.
Property tax snapshot
Typical property tax in Ouray County
The average total mill levy across Ouray County was about 58.4 mills for tax year 2023 — below the statewide average of about 81 mills. On a $500,000 home, that comes to roughly $1,921 a year, using Colorado's 2026 residential rules: 7.05% on school mills, and 6.8% on the rest after the local actual-value adjustment.
This is the county average across all tax areas. Your parcel's actual mill levy depends on its exact tax area — a metro or special district can add many mills on top — so confirm the real number with the county assessor.
Sales tax: the state charges 2.9% and Ouray County adds 2.55%, for 5.45% before any city or special district. See Colorado sales tax rates ->
Source: Colorado Division of Property Taxation, 53rd Annual Report (2023) — Average Levies by County.
Incorporated places in this county
These cities and towns touch Ouray County. Some cross a county line. Every name opens a direct place page, and selected places include a fuller local guide.
Get to know Ouray County
The history, land, and character behind the place.
Outdoors and wildfire
Mount Sneffels sits in a wilderness, reached by a rough basin road
Mount Sneffels is a 14er inside the Mount Sneffels Wilderness southwest of Ouray, and the usual approach climbs Camp Bird Road through Yankee Boy Basin on a steep, high-clearance route.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Ouray made an ice park by spraying spare city water into a gorge
The free Ouray Ice Park grows climbable ice along the Uncompahgre Gorge using the city's leftover spring water, piped through shower heads and run by a nonprofit a short walk from downtown.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Ridgway State Park is the county's big water-and-trails hub
Ridgway State Park sits along the Uncompahgre River just north of Ridgway with a reservoir, campgrounds, and trails, and like other Colorado state parks it has its own pass and rules.
Read note ->History and culture
Ouray is named for a Ute leader, and the county carries the name too
The town and county of Ouray are named for Ouray, a nineteenth-century leader of the Tabeguache (Uncompahgre) band of Ute people, and early accounts say the townsite was first known as Uncompahgre City.
Read note ->Money and taxes (1)
Home and property (1)
Water and land (3)
Water and land
Out in the county, 'has a well' is a question worth checking
Rural Ouray County parcels often rely on wells, but a well permit comes with conditions and the state administers water here through Division 4, so the permit details matter.
Read note ->Water and land
The river below Ridgway dam has its own catch-and-release rules
The Uncompahgre River tailwater below Ridgway Reservoir, in the Pa-Co-Chu-Puk reach, carries flies-and-lures-only and catch-and-release trout rules that differ from the river downstream.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire (7)
Outdoors and wildfire
Most of the high country here is national forest, with its own camping rules
The mountains around Ouray are largely Uncompahgre National Forest land, managed as part of the combined Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison (GMUG) National Forests, where dispersed camping and motorized travel follow Forest Service rules rather than a camp-anywhere free-for-all.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
The Uncompahgre Wilderness is big, quiet, and closed to motors and bikes
The Uncompahgre Wilderness covers a large stretch of the San Juans east of Ouray, with several trails leading in from the west and the usual wilderness limits on motors and bikes.
Read note ->Cars and driving (4)
Cars and driving
The Million Dollar Highway is a real mountain road, not a scenic shortcut
US 550 over Red Mountain Pass between Ouray and Silverton is a steep, narrow mountain highway that can close in winter, so it deserves planning rather than a casual drive.
Read note ->Cars and driving
Ouray's high passes turn a Jeep into a way over the mountains
Ouray bills itself as the Jeep Capital of America, and rugged seasonal four-wheel-drive routes like Imogene Pass and Black Bear Pass climb over the San Juans toward Telluride.
Read note ->Local rules (2)
Local rules
Short-term rental rules in Ouray County depend on the jurisdiction
Short-term rentals are regulated separately by the City of Ouray, the Town of Ridgway, and Ouray County, so the rules for a property depend on which jurisdiction it sits in.
Read note ->Local rules
Who makes the rules depends on whether you're in town or in the county
Ouray County is a statutory county, and land outside the towns of Ouray and Ridgway falls under the county's own land use code rather than town rules.
Read note ->History and culture (8)
History and culture
Otto Mears built the roads and rails that shaped Ouray County
Many of Ouray County's roads and rail lines trace back to Otto Mears, the late-1800s toll-road and railroad builder whose routes through the San Juans still underlie the modern map.
Read note ->History and culture
Why Ouray sits where it does: gold, silver, and the San Juans
Ouray County grew up around late-1800s hardrock mining in the San Juan Mountains, and that history still shapes the towns, roads, and old workings you see today.
Read note ->Nearby counties
Other Western Slope counties — rules, rates, and districts shift across county lines.