Colorado Telluride in Summer

[Seldomski]

We are going to Telluride in a couple weeks and I am not sure whether we should get a rental car. Is a car recommended to see the town and surrounding area? We are staying near the gondola at the "mountain village core." It looks like we can access town and the area mostly on foot and free gondola, but I don't know if there are some scenic drives worth doing while in the area? Is there something nearby we should go check out with a car? Or is there enough readily accessible on foot for a short trip? Is the best view from the gondola anyway?

We'll be there 5 days, 4 nights.

 

[Crank]

We were there a couple of years back in September and are going again this September. We will have a rental car but it will likely remained parked in Telluride. I

Being there for 5 days though you may want to venture out for said scenic drives, possibly down to Ridgeway or a hike up one of the surrounding peaks. I am sure there are plenty of scenic drives I don't know about.

We are there for 3 days for the Blues and Brews Festival and will go hiking and probably rent mountain bikes one day pre-festing time. Great view of the town from the gondola. I think there may be better views of the mountains to be had from hiking.

We have stayed up at Mountain Village. You will be taking the gondola to town a fair bit. You won't need the car at all in Telluride. It ain't that big.

Love Telluride.

 

[New2]

You're going to see spectacular scenery on the way in and out of town, on the gondola, and on foot (assuming the smoke's not bad--fingers crossed for you!). And there's plenty to do without a car to keep most folks entertained for 5 days.
On the flip side, heading out on any of the highways offers a lot more scenery, and there are some pretty intense 4-wheel-drive trails with great views too, if that's your thing (Awesome - Telluride Jeep Rental). And if it turns out that Telluride's super-smoky and other areas nearby aren't, having a car might turn into a real positive.

 

[scott43]

I'd love to go in Sept/Oct and ride over Imogene Pass.. Spectacular.

 

[crosscountry]

Depends on what you like to do.

If you love hiking, there's plenty to hike. If you love mountain biking, rent a bike and it'll probably occupy you for more than all 5 days of your stay. You can also rent one of them monster 4x4 to drive up to the top of the pass...

But, you ask

Is there something nearby we should go check out with a car?

the answer is a resounding "Hell Yes!"

You can drive to Ridgeway. And once you're there, you have the Million Dollar Highway right there. Won't you want to drive it?

With only 5 days, it's more about what you want to do rather than what's there to do!

 

[Ken_R]

We are going to Telluride in a couple weeks and I am not sure whether we should get a rental car. Is a car recommended to see the town and surrounding area? We are staying near the gondola at the "mountain village core." It looks like we can access town and the area mostly on foot and free gondola, but I don't know if there are some scenic drives worth doing while in the area? Is there something nearby we should go check out with a car? Or is there enough readily accessible on foot for a short trip? Is the best view from the gondola anyway?

We'll be there 5 days, 4 nights.

Yes, you want a car for sure.

 

[Pajarito-bred]

No, you absolutely don't need a car. Whether you would like to rent a car and explore by driving around near and far, is a more personal question.... Free gondola to town (walking the whole town is easy, parking in town not so much). There is plenty to explore near town without a car, although for some trailheads a car is needed. Festivals (Film or Blues n Brews....) could crowd town/ restaraunts on weekends- Lots of options, depending on whether you want Big Adventure ( "Via Ferrata") or a short, scenic stroll from the gondola station-- a guide can be useful to prevent mixing up those extremes. FYI, some attractions advertised as "nearby" Silverton or Mesa Verde, can mean 4 or 5 hours driving roundtrip.

To minimize airport shuttle costs, car rental might be a decent value overall. To maximize experiences, you can take advantage of guided day-trips, you'll get to see more and drive less. Assuming you are flying into Montrose/Telluride, shuttles can be spendy, it's about 70 miles. The views are great, but not if you're focused on traffic.

You could avoid renting a car, and just rent a jeep for the day, drive to Ouray and Silverton, then back to Telluride over Imogene or Ophir pass (anytime after Labor Day is fair game for early-season snow, Imogene is off-limits Sat. am after Labor Day for the 17-mile Imogene Pass race).

Yep, the Million-dollar Highway sure is spectacular, but only if you are comfortable driving a narrow, twisty road above a 500-ft cliff (too narrow for guardrails). To really explore the Alpine Loop 4WD trails, you want a "real" Jeep (NOT an airport-rental psuedo-SUV). As a 4Runner owner, it pains me to write that, but what they rent is "Jeeps". Depending on your off-road driving skills, you can drive yourself, or go on a guided tour. Some Telluride-area 4wd roads are black-diamond-level driving. If you rent a jeep, they will ask your skill level and tell you what roads/trails to avoid (such as Black Bear).

The wildfire smoke is hit-or-miss, since this year wildfires aren't too bad in CO, horrible in CA/OR/WA we have been getting smoke from those. If you subscribe to OpenSnow all-access, there's a great smoke map predicted 18-hours out.
Here's a link, for any who haven't yet discovered OpenSnow's awesome ski-weather resource:

Wildfire smoke forecast maps, the two week forecast, and next season’s outlook | Colorado Daily Snow Forecast | OpenSnow

Your trusted source for the most accurate weather forecast, snow report, high-resolution weather maps, and ski conditions information.

opensnow.com

 

[Seldomski]

Just got back -- we did get a car (Buick SUV) and it was useful for getting to some hikes. The extra clearance came in handy for getting to Blue Lakes hike - the dirt road to the trail head was pretty rutted and a sedan may not have worked. This was our favorite hike of our trip.

We may have also been able to get to the top of bridal falls trail with it, but signage was a bit confusing regarding where Black Bear started and ended. I definitely did not want to get on that 'road.' We erred on side of caution. After checking the road at the base of the falls after hiking up, it looked like we could have saved some time and hiked further if we had driven up the dirt road to the start (end?) of Black Bear. Maybe next time.

We also would have had plenty to do without the car, so it was not necessary. So many hikes to do - we barely scratched the surface.

Drive from Montrose to Telluride is also incredibly scenic.

I guess we got lucky - only hazy day was the day we flew in. For the rest of the trip, visibility was excellent.