Montrose, Colorado - One Day in the Wild West
So I’m not sure if the locals would call their home the Wild, Wild, West, but that’s the vibe I got in Montrose, in the best way. It has a small town desert feel, with notes of historical preservation, hipster beer and coffee brewing, and mountain living. A little off the beaten path, it’s not your standard tourist city destination, and that actually gives it a lot to offer.
Husband and I visited Montrose, Colorado in the late spring, just as everything was coming back to life. The trees were flowering, the sun was shining, birds were singing, you get the picture. Husband was there to work, which meant I got a full day to explore by myself!
What We Did
Since I only had a day, I really wanted to spend it getting to know more about the town - the history, the people who lived there, the landscape, and the pizza situation (of course). So I planned a day involving lots of education, which I’m totally into.
(For those of you friends who would rather spend the day adventuring outside than reading inside, there are a TON of mountain exploration opportunities around, and we’ve definitely spent our time doing that too. Blogs to come! But since Husband was working, I got to do whatever I wanted for a whole day, which meant less sleeping on the ground and more strolling on the sidewalks with a latte.)
Montrose Botanical Gardens
Anyway, I started the day with a nice walk to the Montrose Botanical Gardens. It was super quiet - only a handful of us were there visiting that day. It was really interesting to see a botanical garden set up with desert plants. The main exhibit was about how to properly xeriscape and why it’s so important to choose native plants for our home landscaping. Even in these drier western climates, there are still so many options for beautiful plants that actually help the earth thrive when we bring them back to our homes!
Montrose County Historical Museum
Next, I made my way over to the Montrose County Historical Museum, an old train station that was converted into a museum 50 years ago. It was basically a 3D scrapbook of the town that you can walk through. There was old medical equipment, saddles, blacksmithing tools, train artifacts, ranching equipment, super old hairstyling machines, musical instruments, house decor, farming equipment, and so much more that had been saved from around Montrose over the years. It almost felt more like an antique store than a museum, but nothing was for sale. The woman working there was delightful and had such a passion for keeping the stories of Montrose alive.
Museum of the Mountain West
I visited what was probably my favorite museum of the day next. If you can only pick one to see while you’re in Montrose (which is much more reasonable than my extreme day of 1000 exhibits), this is the one I would recommend. The Museum of the Mountain West is a well thought out, well planned, walk through history. The entire place is the collection of one man who started collecting when he was 4 years old. He opened his first museum out of his family’s guest room when he was 8. By profession, he was an archaeologist, which meant he found lots of goodies as he was digging around the county. He didn’t believe that anything should ever go in a landfill because artifacts are history and should be preserved.
The whole museum reminded me of being at Disneyland, or on a fancy movie set with old store fronts, saloons, and houses set up to look like it would have a century ago. In fact, all of the lettering painted on the store fronts was done by a friend of the museum who worked on the movie True Grit, so it makes sense that it seems straight out of Hollywood.
Fun fact - many of the artifacts in the museum were uncovered when the founder was excavating outhouses! Over 600 of them! One of the most interesting was a pistol that was found outside of a saloon where a patron had been shot, and the pistol was missing a bullet. Seems like someone thought an outhouse was a great place to hide the evidence!
As a teacher, my favorite part was the old school house that was set up outside. The museum volunteer actually took down the ropes when I told her that I’m a teacher and let me go inside and get a closer look. There were lists of etiquette rules for teachers and I learned that school buildings in the late 1800s were painted red because it was the cheapest color!
Again, this museum was not at all busy - perk of a less touristy destination - which meant the museum volunteers were available to ask questions and give guidance around the different artifacts. So many behind the scenes opportunities!
Ute Indian Museum
The final museum of the day was the Ute Indian Museum. This one was also really neat, and very eye opening. There is so much wisdom to be learned from the people who lived here first, and the museum does a great job of highlighting that wisdom. It’s historical and also modern, bringing in work from current Native artists and sharing what ancient traditions look like today. There is also plenty of environmental science built in that would provide great material for classroom discussions and lessons about living in a way that respects the earth.
What We Ate
Okay, but now the good stuff. Let’s talk about the food. I started the day with coffee from The Coffee Trader. It was a nice spot to sit outside and enjoy a warm drink before such a long day. I got Mexican food for lunch at Amelias Hacienda Restaurante, which was surprisingly yummy (this Southern California girl is pretty picky about her tacos). When Husband was done with work, we stopped into this really cute speakeasy (we needed a password phrase and everything!) called Phelanies and got fancy drinks before heading to get pizza for dinner at Colorado Boy Pizzeria and Brewery. We didn’t have to wait in any crazy long lines, no reservations were needed, and the food everywhere was delicious!
And Some Extras…
Before you book your trip to Montrose, which you should definitely do, I have two more suggestions.
One: visit an alpaca farm. Before heading home, we went to Flying Iron Ranch Alpacas and had THE BEST afternoon. We got to feed and pet alpacas and tour all around the farm where they live. What?! Best. Day. Ever.
Two: take a quick trip to Ouray. It’s about an hour drive or so from Montrose, and the cutest little town nestled into the mountains. It’s another one of those towns that looks like it belongs on a TV set and should be covered in snow and twinkle lights year round. It’s tiny, so you don’t need a ton of time to get around, but if you want some outdoor adventure this would be a good place to go. Also, stop into Full Tilt Saloon and get some homemade green chili tater tots. They’ll change your life, and I promise, they’re not like any tater tot you’ve ever known.
Classroom Impact
As far as classroom impact goes, one thing that I’m really excited about implementing with my students is the importance of preserving artifacts. For a class, this can look like a time capsule project, beginning of the year “All About Me” activity, or end of year memory book. Tying that to the idea of keeping things out of landfills can also open up class discussion and lessons about the importance of caring for the earth, honoring those who came before us, and preserving our landscape for those who come after us. So many things!
Have you ever considered a small town vacation? What would you look forward to seeing in a place like Montrose?
