The towns of the Western Slope

A few big-ish hubs, a lot of small ones, and a handful of mountain towns that punch far above their size. Here is the lay of it.

You could spend a lifetime getting to know the Western Slope's towns, and plenty of people have. This is not a ranking and not a brochure. It is a plain sketch of the places, so you know roughly what you are driving into.

Grand Junction

The unofficial capital of the Western Slope and its biggest city by a wide margin. Grand Junction sits where the Gunnison River meets the Colorado, ringed by the Book Cliffs, the Grand Mesa, and the red rock of the Colorado National Monument. It is the region's hub for medical care, shopping, the airport, and the state university's western campus. If the Western Slope has a downtown, this is it.

Palisade

Just east of Grand Junction, small and famous out of proportion to its size, thanks to peaches and wine. The warm valley and long season make it Colorado's fruit country, and late summer here smells like it.

Montrose and Delta

Working towns in the valleys between Grand Junction and the San Juans. Montrose is the practical gateway to the Black Canyon and the road toward Ouray and Telluride. Delta sits in farm and ranch country to the north. Neither is trying to be a resort, and that is part of their charm.

Ridgway, Ouray, and Telluride

The mountain end of the Western Slope, where the San Juans get serious. Ridgway is the mellow valley town at the foot of the range. Ouray, hemmed in by cliffs, calls itself the Switzerland of America and has the ice climbing to back it up in winter. Telluride, over the passes, is the box-canyon ski town that became world famous. Small places, big scenery.

Fruita, Cortez, and the edges

Fruita, west of Grand Junction, is dinosaur country and a mountain-biking magnet. Cortez, down in the far southwest, is the base for Mesa Verde and the Four Corners. The Western Slope trails off into these edge towns where Colorado starts to feel like the desert Southwest.

For the country around all of them, see getting outside, and what the region is for the bigger picture.