Hike Into History

SCENIC HIKES, SPARKLING HISTORY

Telluride’s rich past comes to life with museum’s Hike into History series

BY MARTINIQUE DAVIS

With its striking vistas and dramatic landscapes, the Telluride region is known to conjure awe. Dig beneath the picturesque surface, though, and the real power of place comes alive when told through its history.

The Telluride Historical Museum’s pursuit of bringing history to life is made evident in one of its most popular programs, Hike into History. As Director of Programs and Exhibits Theresa Koenigsknecht explains, these jaunts to locales around Telluride deliver stunning scenery with an added dose of historical context.

“When you can stand in a place and have something to envision — like walking a trail and knowing that it’s the same trail that hundreds of men used to walk to get to the Liberty Bell Mine for example ... it all comes together in this beautiful package,” she says.

The museum has been organizing summer hikes to historically significant locations in the region since 2006, with three unique hikes typically planned throughout the summer. The 2020 schedule was truncated due to the pandemic, but Koenigsknecht and her colleagues anticipate being able to bring the full Hike into History schedule back this summer, with unique adventures tentatively scheduled for July, August and September. Hikes vary from easy to difficult and are led by specially selected guides.

“With the right leader, it can be about so much more than history,” Koenigsknecht says, explaining that the museum aims to select expert guides who can bring insights in

History comes to life (photos, l-r): Bear Creek Falls; Hike into History participants returning from Liberty Bell basin; Liberty Bell mill buildings; the Rio Grande Southern Railroad. Photos courtesy of the Telluride Historical Museum, all rights reserved.

‘WITH THE RIGHT LEADER, IT CAN BE ABOUT SO MUCH MORE THAN HISTORY.’

Theresa Koenigsknecht

subject matter ranging from native plants to geology to natural history, in addition to sharing a site’s historical background.

Museum Director Kiernan Lannon says the popularity of the program largely stems from the historical richness of the region, with spectacular scenery an added bonus.

“There is always some element that brings history home in the physical sense; something you can point to and say, ‘This is where history happened,’ and you can see that,” Lannon explains. Previous summers’ Hike into History participants have journeyed to the remains of high-alpine mines, hiked along the Galloping Goose train route to the coal chutes in Ilium Valley and into the aspen forests of area mesas to hunt for 1930s-era arborglyphs (artistic inscriptions carved into trees) to name just a few.

Some hikes take participants to off-the-beatenpath locales, while others bring history to life on Telluride’s more popular trails. Historically rich remnants of the past are hiding along the popular Bear Creek Trail, for example, which is actually an old mining road. These kinds of hikes can provide a new perspective on old favorite places even longtime locals may not know the history of, according to Lannon. “You can really get the best of both worlds, with stunning scenery but then with a little digging you find there’s history there too.”

He adds that Hike into History encourages engagement in the museum in an unconventional way, by bringing people outside the traditional framework of visiting a museum housed within four walls. “Hiking is not something you necessarily think about when you think about a museum, but this isn’t your grandparent’s history museum. We love the challenge of being unconventional.”

For museum information and programming, including Hike into History, visit telluridemuseum.org.

MARVELOUS MUSEUM

Explore the area’s incredible history at the marvelous Telluride Historical Museum on North Fir Street. The museum has permanent collections, an annual exhibit and interactive displays, as well as lots of cool programming. Visit telluridemuseum.org for more.