50+ Adventures - Tours

MRD offers a variety of different activities and weekly cultural, recreational and/or educational tours. Click on each tab below to see a listing of activities/tours offered at this time.

Please contact MRD with any questions at 249-7705. Register at the Montrose Community Recreation Center or online.

50+ Tours


Paonia Dam Tour

The dam is an earth fill structure. The crest of the dam is 35 feet wide and 770 feet long; the structure stands 199 feet above foundation. Our guide will share the history of the dam, the workings of the dam and explain the sedimentation issues.

Date: Tuesday, Sept 13
Time: 8:00 am – approximately 3:30 pm
Fee: $25 ( bring money for lunch) 
Location: Meet at the Senior Center at 7:45 am

Elk Mountain Resort Lunch and Tour

We will hear the history of Elk Mountain Resort and tour the spectacular, no expense spared complex. There are nineteen, 2,600 sq. ft. guest cabins and 21, one bedroom guest rooms. Outdoor amenities include a tennis court, climbing wall, sand volleyball court and a rainbow trout fishing pond. Don’t miss it!

Date: Friday, Sept 23
Time: 10:15 – approximately 3:00 pm
Fee: $35 (includes transportation, tour, lunch and gratuity)
Location: Meet at the Senior Center at 10:00 am

Elk Mountain Resort - Lunch and Tour

Experience the Elk Mountain Resort located on nearly 300 acres of spruce, pine and aspen forest with a bounty of wildlife. We will dine on southern style comfort food prepared by the head chef and then tour the resort and surrounding out buildings.
Date: Friday, May 20
Time: 10:45 – approximately 3:00 pm
Fee: $15 (bring money for lunch) 
Location: Meet at the Senior 10:30 am 

Montrose Forest Products and Bluecorn Candle Factory Tour

Montrose Forest Products is a logging, milling and forestry management company who in part uses lodge pole pine beetle-killed forests to supply the mill. Tour requires walking on a catwalk and taking multiple stairs. Bluecorn makes candles from clean, natural ingredients — honoring the bees who create the wax, and the craftspeople that build the candles.

Date: Thursday, Oct 20
Time: 7:45 am – approx. 1:00 pm
Fee: $25 (bring money for lunch)
Location: Meet at the Senior Center @ 7:30 am

 

Secret Creek, MRD Flex Rec, LaNoue DuBois Winery

First we tour Secret Creek, formally Colorado Yurt. We will see the facility operations, factory and the outdoor village. Next we tour the new MRD Flex Rec functional fitness facility. We end our day with free wine tasting at LaNoue DuBois Winery located south of town. Discounts for military and over 65.

Date: Thursday, Nov 3
Time:9:00 am – approx. 3:30 pm
Fee: $25 (bring money for lunch)
Location: Meet at the Senior Center @ 9:00 am

Ouray Hot Springs plus Lunch & Shopping in Ouray

We will start the day shopping in downtown Ouray follweed by llunch and than a soak at the Ouray Hot Springs at noon.

Date: Thursday, Nov 17
Time:8:30 am – approx. 3:30 pm
Fee: $25 (over 75 yrs.); $36 (62-74 yrs.); $41 under 62 yrs. (includes Hot Springs fee- bring money for lunch)
Location: Meet at the Senior Center @ 8:15 am

50+Hikes

Ouray Perimeter Trail plus lunch in Ouray

This is a six-mile hike around Ouray that features varied terrain, un- matched scenery, four waterfalls, five bridges, and up close geology. There is approximately 1,600 feet of elevation gain and loss. The hike typically takes 4-5 hours to complete. Good footwear and trekking poles are recommended.  

  • Date: Tuesday, Aug 30
  • Time: 7:30 am - approximately  4:00 pm 
  • Fee: $20 (bring a sack lunch)
  • Location: Meet at the Senior Center  at 7:15 am


winter hiking

Fall Color Hikes

Paonia Reservoir Area Enjoy the changing colors of the scrub oak and aspen. We will hike along the road. Moderate hike; ~4 mile RT with ~500’ elevation gain.  

  • Date: Thursday, Sept 29
  • Time: 8:30 am - approximately 4:00 pm 
  • Fee: $20 (bring a sack lunch)
  • Location: Meet at the Senior Center at 8:15 am

Jud Wiebe

This steep hike features great views of Telluride as well as the ski slopes and peaks rising along the south side of the valley. Difficulty: moderate to strenuous. 3.2 mi round trip hike with 1,100 ft. elevation gain. Trailhead elevation is 8,900 ft. rising to a maximum elevation of 10,000ft.

  • Date: Thursday, Oct 6
  • Time: 8:30 am - approximately 4:30 pm 
  • Fee: $20 (bring a sack lunch)
  • Location: Meet at the Senior Center at 8:15 am

Colorado National Monument - Black Ridge Trail

This is the highest trail in the park with far-reaching views. The trailhead is located at the CCC trail 3.8 mi east of the Visitor’s Center. Moderate hike – approximately 5 miles round trip. We are hiking a portion of the trail that we haven’t hiked before. Elevation: 5,790 to 6,730 ft

  • Date: Friday, Nov 11
  • Time: 8:30 am - approximately 4:30 pm 
  • Fee: $20 (bring a sack lunch)
  • Location: Meet at the Senior Center at 8:15 am


  1. Cultural Trips
  2. 4 Wheel Drive 
  3. WATER Trips
  4. Winery Tours
  5. premier World Discovery tours
  6. Saturday Night Dances
  7. Snow Shoeing
  8. Gambling Trips

50+ Cultural Tours 

Ouray County Museum & Box Canyon Falls 

The museum features mining, ranching and railroading, the three main means of employment in Ouray’s early history. See large displays of min- erals and Indian artifacts. Box Canyon Falls is a spectacular geological formation where the 285-foot waterfall plummets into a narrow quartzite canyon. We will tour the museum and store.

  • Date: Thursday, August 11
  • Time: 8:15  am - approximately 3:00 pm 
  • Fee: $34 (includes tour fees; bring money for lunch)
  • Location: Meet at the Senior Center at 8:00 am

Hanging Flume, Uravan & the Gateway Auto Museum

We will meet in Naturita to hear the history of one of the oldest towns in the west end. The Rimrockers will then share the mining history of the town of Uravan followed by the gold mining history of the Hanging Flume. Our final tour is at the Gateway Auto Museum. 

  • Date: Tuesday, Oct 4
  • Time: 7:30 am - approximately 4:30 pm)
  • Fee: $39 (- bring money for lunch)
    Location: Meet at the Senior Center at 7:15 am

The Old School Lodge B&B and the Colona School 


The Old School Lodge B&B was operated as a public school until 1986. Today, the schoolhouse themed home features ten large bedrooms and one master suite. The Colona School and Grange is listed on the State Register of Historic Properties. The building was never abandoned and has been used at least once a month since school closed.

Date: Tuesday, Oct 11
Time: 8:30 am – approx. 1:00 pm
Fee: $25 (bring money for lunch in Montrose)
Location: Meet at the Senior Center @ 8:15 am

Fall Day on the Farm at Cross Orchards Historic Site plus Lunch at Spoons Bistro


Cross Orchards is an outdoor agriculture and transportation museum. Fall Day on the Farm is their main fundraiser of the year. There will be dancers, historic society presentations, a model train display, rides on a 1931 fire truck and more! We will have lunch at Spoons Bistro after our farm visit.

Date: Saturday, Oct 15
Time: 7:30 am – approx. 2:30 pm
Fee: $26 (includes farm entry; bring money for lunch )
Location: Meet at the Senior Center @7:15 am

Rock Art of the Shavano Valley


The inhabitants of Shavano Valley carved rock for centuries with subjects that range from BC to the 1800’s. The 2 hour rock art tour is about a 1 mile hike up and down, rocky and uneven surfaces with 8 to 10 sites to see.

Date: Tuesday, Nov 8 & 15 (same tour repeats)
Time: 9:45 am – approx. 1:00 pm
Fee: $21 
Location: Meet at the Senior Center @9:30 am