Explore Ridgway
Ridgway at Night – Val Szwarc
Welcome to Ridgway
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any visitors come to Ridgway for its diverse and plentiful outdoor opportunities. Popular activities include hiking in the iconic Mount Sneffels Wilderness Area, and sightseeing under Chimney and Courthouse Peaks near Owl Creek Pass in the Cimarron Mountains. Then, there’s biking the paved trail from downtown to Ridgway State Park along the Uncompahgre River, and paddle boarding or kayaking the Ridgway Reservoir. A growing number of visitors are also discovering the Ridgway area treasure – star-filled dark skies. I invite you to visit our internationally recognized Dark Sky Community where you can see the Milky Way in town, thanks to our shielded street lights and lighting ordinance that are compliant to International Dark Sky Association (IDA) standards. Outside the edge of town the night sky is truly pristine just like the Native Americans and early pioneers experienced. Top of the Pines (TOP), a Ouray County recreation area just six miles
south of town, helps preserve the area’s dark sky assets as well since IDA designated this community recreation area a Dark Sky Park in the Fall of 2021. Here, astrophotographers, amateur astronomers and stargazers like me are taking advantage of some of the darkest star-filled skies in Colorado. Ridgway is a welcoming and vibrant community, with valuing the outdoors as part of its DNA. Each of us has some pastime we love in our beautiful landscape, from hiking the many trails and cross-country skiing on the groomed trails at Top of the Pines to summer concerts in downtown Ridgway. This is what drew me to the area 25-plus years ago, and moved me here about seven years ago. As I and many visitors have found, you will be drawn to return time and time again to this mountain town gem of the San Juan Mountains. Val Szwarc Dark Sky Preservation Advocate Top of the Pines Board Member
Meet Val… first visit to ridgway: in the early 1980s
Ridgway-Ouray Community Council Dark Sky Committee. I am also a member of the years in ridgway: seven years full time, but boards of directors for Top of the Pines, part time since the mid-1990s Colorado Chapter of IDA, and Black Canyon profession: Retired from a career as a research Astronomical Society. meteorologist and aerospace engineer favorite pastime: skiing the backcountry volunteer activities: I devote time to helping above Ridgway support the community in and around most amazing local view: The in-your-face view Ridgway, including helping to protect the of the Mount Sneffels Range from Top of the dark night sky of the area through the Pines, just six miles south of Ridgway
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2022 Official Visitor’s Guide RIDGWAY
