Telluride and Southwest Colorado: Places to Explore

Dolores

On the bank of the Dolores River at the McPhee Reservoir, Colorado's second-largest body of water, Dolores is midway between Durango and Telluride on Highway 145. This sleepy little town in the San Juan Forest attracts visitors with its spectacular scenery, fabulous fly-fishing, water sports, mountain hiking, and outdoor adventure.

The gentle rising hump to the southwest of town is Sleeping Ute Mountain, which resembles the reclining silhouette of a Native American replete with headdress. The sacred site is revered by the Ute Mountain tribe as a great warrior god who, mortally wounded in a titanic battle with the evil ones, lapsed into eternal sleep, his flowing blood turning into the life-giving Dolores and Animas rivers.

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