Telluride River Hike

Telluride River Hike

The Telluride River Hike is more of a paved nature walk that follows the San Miguel river through town. It also has an educational component with plaques that tell of the mining history of the area. Going in I thought it was more of a hike but really enjoyed the easier walk along the river with great views.

Getting Started

There are several places that you can get on and off the river trail. I got on at Fir street where there are a few parking spots. By starting at this point you will walk past some condo buildings. I took the trail around this small pond because it had a great reflection of the mountain.

After the pond you will find yourself at Town Park in Telluride. This park has several ball fields and the river trail continues around the parking lot entrance.

Historic Walk

As you continue east towards Bridal Falls, the river walk starts to get educational. There are a series of plaques on the side of the trail talking about the history of mining in Telluride. I actually found it pretty entertaining. Some of the plaque’s are featured in the gallery below.

After the park the trail continues for a mile and half. It is a wide trail that passes through an aspen grove and keeps a view of the river that slowly runs from the mountains.

There were several people walking their dogs or running on the trail and I looked a little foolish with a backpack on.

Bridal Veil Falls

The hike leads to the old Pandora Mill site. There are roads that continued on and I am pretty sure that they connected to the Bridal Veil Falls hike. I called the ranger station and they told me that hike wasn’t open so I did not attempt it.

The falls were still completely frozen but still pretty spectacular.

I definitely need to make it back to Telluride when these falls are running as they look pretty amazing. One thing I learned was that above the falls is the Smuggler-Union Hydroelectric plant that was built in 1907 and is still used to provide power to Telluride.

The Telluride River hike was an easy hike through the town of Telluride next to the San Miguel River. If you are looking for an enjoyable walk with some great views, this may be the perfect hike for you!

Elevation and Distance

If you don’t have the AllTrails app you might want to check it out, I really love mine. It records your progress and is a great way to search for hikes that are nearby and gives you difficulty measurements. According to AllTrails today’s hike was around 4.46 miles and had a total elevation gain of about 289 feet including undulations. That put the high point at around 8,981 feet. I was also moving for a total of 1 hours and 36 minutes.

I am a Pro member of Alltrails and love it. If you are interested in the platform, please consider using my affiliate link for AllTrails. It gives me a small commission with no extra cost to you.

Effort

This is really not much more than a nice long nature walk through the town of Telluride that ends with a great view. The trail does continue on to the Bridal Veil Falls hike but I did not take that. There are a couple of slight up hill sections but nothing to challenging at all. Lovely walk.

Terrain

Very well defined and maintained trail that is wide. There are informational placards and you will probably see a ton of people walking on this trail as it is a neighborhood nature trail.

Access

There are several access points to this trail but the most popular at the Town Park and where I picked it up at the end of Fir Street. There are only a couple of parking spots on Fir street but you can always try to park around town to take the walk. Another section of parking is located at the end of this trail that are for the Bridal Veil hike.

Wrapping up Telluride River

While this is more of a nature walk than a hike it is still really enjoyable. The trail is very easy to manage and the views are outstanding. I think that everyone will be able to enjoy this simple walk on the river side.

I have added this hike and all of my hikes to the interactive map page you can find here. If you have any suggestions for hikes or comments feel free to email me at fatmanlittletrails@gmail.com. You can follow me on any of the below social media platforms. Happy Hiking!