Ridgeway

About Ridgeway

Many movies were also filmed in and around this tiny town. The marquee included “True Grit”, “Tribute to a Bad Man”, “How the West was Won”, “The Sons of Katie Elder”, “Butch Cassidy and the Sun Dance Kid”, and “The Hateful Eight”. Steep forested mountains and cliffs surround Ridgway on the south, east, and northeast. The Uncompahgre River runs through the town and flows into Ridgway State Park and Reservoir, to the north. Dallas Creek also flows from the south-west and forms a confluence with the Uncompahgre before entering the reservoir. There is a notable wildlife presence, with mountain lions, badgers, deer, elk, bears, coyotes, wild turkey, and bald eagles, all being indigenous to the area. The region’s bald eagles nest in the cottonwoods along the river and are a common sight in the late fall.

The town started off as a railroad town, serving the nearby mining towns of Telluride and Ouray. The town site is at the northern terminus of the Rio Grande Southern Railroad where it meets with Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad running between Montrose and Ouray. Ridgway has a humid continental climate with four distinct seasons. Summers are usually warm to hot while winter days are cold with nighttime temperatures dropping close to zero F. Annual snowfall is heavy, averaging 85 inches (220 cm). The warmest temperature recorded in town, is 99 °F (37°C), which occurred on July 18, 2023, while the coldest temperature on record in Ridgway was -36°F / -38°C, which took place on January 12, 1963.