Some Fun Facts About Ouray

As one of the most established Ouray Colorado Hotels, The River’s Motel and Lodge is proud of our unique and exciting town and all that it has to offer. Here are some fun facts about why our Ouray Hotel is ideally located.

• In the fall of 1968 the film True Grit was filmed in Ouray County, including some scenes in the city of Ouray and the nearby town of Ridgway and, possibly most notably, the interior of the Ouray County Court House.

• In Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged, the protagonist's secret hideaway was in a beautiful valley in the Rocky Mountains called Mulligan's Valley or "Galt's Gulch." Galt's Gulch was inspired by Ouray, where Rand found inspiration to complete the novel.

• In the well-known television series MacGyver, Ouray is the home of MacGyver's grandfather, Harry. The town and its surrounding area are used as the backdrop for the first-season episode, "Target MacGyver".

• Telluride native David Lavender related his experiences working at the Camp Bird Mine in the 1930s in his memoir One Man's West.

• Coors and Chevrolet have both filmed commercials in the area, particularly Twin Falls in Yankee Boy Basin (a great landmark to visit by the way!).

• Famous baseball pitcher Smoky Joe Wood was born in Kansas City but grew up in Ouray.

• The opening scene to the movie Over the Top with Sylvester Stallone runs straight through downtown Ouray.

This rich, interesting history represents just some of what’s in store with you at Ouray, Colorado. To learn more, call 866-739-4987.