Start from 26 curated places around Ouray, CO, then choose the recommendations that fit your guests.
Restaurants & cafés
Brickhouse 737
Ouray's most-cited dinner destination — a cozy brick-walled room on Main Street running farm-fresh contemporary American food with local sourcing from area ranches and dairies. Travel-inspired dishes and creative cocktails in a town where most restaurants are utilitarian.
Ouray Brewery
Downtown brewpub with a rooftop patio facing the cliff walls — house-brewed ales including the 550 Red as the flagship, dry-rub chicken wings, pub sandwiches, and soups. The most reliably open and consistently casual option in Ouray.
Trails & outdoors
Ouray Perimeter Trail
5.4-mile loop encircling the entire town of Ouray along the cliff base and through the Uncompahgre Gorge — this is the locals' everyday trail, passing historic mine ruins, the Baby Bathtubs soaking pools (seasonal), and multiple cascade viewpoints, all within walking distance of Main Street.
Chief Ouray Mine via Upper Cascade Falls
4.6-mile hard hike from the north end of town gaining 1,929 feet to the abandoned Chief Ouray Mine — the route passes the impressive Upper Cascade Falls at the midpoint, then climbs steeply to a historic mining operation with ore car remnants and canyon views. One of the most rewarding hard hikes accessible from town.
Things to do
Ouray Ice Park
The world's first public ice climbing park, built inside the Uncompahgre Gorge with over 200 ice and mixed climbing routes on irrigated walls ranging from beginner pillars to WI6 technical lines. Operates December through mid-March; spectators can watch for free from the gorge rim walkway.
Switzerland of America Jeep Tours
The oldest Jeep tour company in the San Juans (operating since 1946) based in downtown Ouray — guided 4x4 tours to Yankee Boy Basin's wildflower meadows, Black Bear Pass's cliff-edge switchbacks, and Engineer Pass at 12,800 feet. The way to access high-country terrain without a capable vehicle or off-road experience.
Landmarks & sights
Ouray Hot Springs Pool
Municipally run outdoor hot springs facility at the north end of Main Street, fed by sulfur-free geothermal water ranging from 77F in the lap pool to 106F in the adult-only soaking area. Five pools, a waterslide, and a climbing wall, with the San Juan peaks rising on three sides.
Box Canon Falls Park
Canyon Creek funnels through a 20-foot wide quartzite slot at the south end of town and drops 285 feet into a booming narrow gorge — catwalks and metal gangways are bolted directly into the rock, putting you 10 feet from the falls. The most vertically dramatic five minutes in town.