Kayaking Telluride

The boating on the San Miguel River that runs through Telluride is as brief as it is beautiful — the heavy snow sheds quickly in the spring, and there is a burst of kayaking and rafting, before the summer heat returns the river to its lazy, shallow beginnings. In the late spring and early summer, however, boaters are treated to one of the least-travelled, most scenic river experiences in the Southwest. The river has consistent class two rapids, tumbling through a canyon with sheer red rock sides and lots of birds, otters, beavers and fish. Boaters can pick a section for a day trip, or take a multi-day excursion west toward Utah, where the San Miguel hooks up with the Dolores River in a pristine pink and yellow canyon with a hanging flume left over from the days of uranium mining.