KILLER WEEKEND
Snowmobiles parked at the Enterprise Bar and Grill. photo by Brandy Randall
Rico, Colorado Winter’s undiscovered treasure lies just off the beaten path BY ROBERT STUMP
Riders enjoy groomed trails near town. photo by Cristal Hibbard
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A D V E N T U R E P R O . u s
It takes a little over a minute to drive through Rico, Colorado, at the posted speed limit. Most of the traffic on State Highway 145 passes right through the blink-and-miss-it mining town, settled in 1879, unless stopped by the marshal when they blinked and missed the speed limit sign, too. “Rico shrinks in the winter,” said Brandy Randall, owner of the Enterprise Bar and Grill. Slowing down through town, though, begins to reveal things otherwise missed. Rico’s modern treasures take some digging, as much as its minerals did back in the day, but are well worth dedicating an entire weekend to. The astute weekend warrior immediately recognizes the most obvious treasures: a town surrounded by mountains accessible from a well-maintained winter highway, and beautiful river valley slicing through the middle of it all. The Rico mountains are their own geologic feature, with more than a dozen summits over 12,000 feet packed into 75 square miles and joined at the hip with the San Juan Mountains and the Wilson Range.
