Telluride and Ouray are classic Colorado

TELLURIDE AND OURAY • These two box canyons show Colorado at its most dramatic, with each town cradled by breathtaking cliffs and waterfalls. Both have quaint, old downtown retail strips with beautifully restored Victorians.

Telluride is the bigger tourist draw. During the summer, the hip mining-town-turned-ski Valhalla turns into Festival City, hosting a different extravaganza every weekend. The Telluride Bluegrass Festival (June 18-21) and Telluride Film Festival (Sept. 4-7) are the most well-known, but the Jazz Celebration (June 5-7), Blues & Brews (Sept. 18-20) and others have been growing.

Ouray revels in being Telluride's quieter cousin, a retreat for those who want to escape the crowds and enjoy a wildflower hike or a soak in a hot springs pool.

A spectacular weekend (or weeklong) getaway can encompass both, and part of the fun are the roads that connect them, particularly U.S. 550, otherwise known as the Million Dollar Highway. The jagged-peaked scenery is worth every penny.


A SOAK AT OURAY

Whether you want to do laps in warm water, splash down the big slide or soak in the hot zones, Ouray has the goods in its hot pools. One nice feature for kids: A tremendous variety of inflatables is for rent for a few bucks. It's amazing the fun a 10-year-old can have with his own inflatable raft.

Admission is $10, $8 for students ages 7-12 and seniors 62 and older, and $5 for children ages 3-6.


A HIKE IN OURAY

If you're looking for a quick (about 45 minutes) hike with a spectacular visual payoff, do the Lower Cascade Falls Trail.

Cascade Falls is the waterfall in the northeast corner of Ouray, and you can see it from just about anywhere in the canyon. You can reach the falls by hiking uphill from Main Street on Eighth Avenue. It's only a two-block distance to the beginning of the trail, but it's a bit steep. You also can drive up to the end of Eighth Avenue, park in the small parking area and walk from there.


A BITE IN OURAY

Buen Tiempo Mexican Restaurant & Cantina
515 Main St., Ouray

Sit in the flowered patio and try the best blue corn spinach enchiladas in the state. You can add to the good times by sampling among the nearly dozen margaritas.


HOLLYWOOD IN TELLURIDE

Sept. 4-7 at various venues

The Telluride Film Festival is among the most important on the national circuit, although not because it produces the most deals or introduces the most new artists. Telluride earns its gravitas by the consistent quality of its films.

In fact, most Telluride regulars spend $340 to $3,900 on passes without even knowing what movies will show. (The lineup isn't announced until festival week.)
proof in the past

Previous Telluride premieres: "My Dinner With Andre," "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," "Cinema Paradiso," "Rushmore" and hundreds of others that brought fans to laughter, tears and arguments.

Film critic Roger Ebert had this to say about the festival: "At the smallest of the world's major film festivals, there is always a controversy, and always a discovery and always a moment when you stumble dazed out of a midnight screening into the clear moonlight convinced the cinema is worth saving after all."

FOR PASSES OR MORE DETAILS: telluridefilmfestival.org

June 18-21 at Town Park

They call it the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, but "festivarians," as regulars call themselves, know that Telluride draws nearly 20,000 people every year with music that moseys several miles from traditional bluegrass.


BEYOND THE BLUE

Among this year's performers, former Talking Head David Byrne and the second-most important Elvis who ever lived, Elvis Costello. Not exactly known for their pickin' and grinnin'.


MORE THAN MUSIC

Run by Planet Bluegrass, the Lyons-based outfit that also puts on RockyGrass and Folks Festival, the Telluride Bluegrass Festival is about the closest thing we have to Woodstock in the West. It's a campout, throw-down-your-tarp, four-day musical party that attracts neo-hippies and old school hippies, as well as scads of face-painted children. This year marks the 26th fest.

FOR TICKETS OR MORE INFO: bluegrass.com


A BITE IN TELLURIDE

Baked in Telluride, 127 S. Fir St.

Telluride is loaded with terrific high-end dining spots (many with numerals in their name: 221 South Oak or 9545), but if you're looking for an affordable place to soak in the Telluride culture, it's this joint. Baked in Telluride is an outstanding bakery and pizza cafe where you can chew on a fresh-baked bagel or a pepperoni slice while you lounge on the porch with your Labrador.