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1955 Map of Telluride

Name: 1955 Topographic Map of Telluride
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1987
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1987

About this map

The town of Telluride and its industrial high-country surroundings are captured here at a time when the legacy of the late-19th-century mining boom was still physically dominant on the landscape. Situated along the San Miguel River, the town serves as the low-altitude anchor for a vast network of vertical operations, including the Smuggler Mine and Liberty Bell Mine. The high basins are dotted with the remnants of legendary camps, most notably the Tomboy (Ruins) located east of the main town.

The presence of the Lone Tree Cem and high-altitude settlements like Alta reflect the intense human activity that once occurred at these extreme elevations. To the south and east, the terrain rises sharply toward Bridal Veil Creek and Ajax Peak, where early transportation routes like the Liberty Bell Trail and Black Bear Trail carved paths through the Uncompahgre National Forest to reach remote claims and alpine water sources like the Alta Lakes.