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San Juan County

• The area has some of the cleanest and clearest, highest-quality air in the U.S. (as shown by governement research atop Molas Pass, just south of Silverton.)
• San Juan County has the highest mean elevation of any county in the United States, composed entirely of mountains and river and stream valleys.
• Public lands constitute 95% of land ownership in the county.
• Gold, silver, copper, lead & zinc ores were the economic minerals mined in the area.
• The population of the county peaked in 1900 at 5,000 inhabitants.
• There is not one acre of agricultural land in the entire county.
• Downhill skiing at Purgatory Ski Resort is less than a mile away from the southern end of the county, where Cascade Village is located. Silverton also boasts its own, municipal ski hill.
• The Wenimuche Wilderness Area lies in part of San Juan County, giving access to COlorado's largest wilderness and primitive area.
• The rich ored deposits are a result of immense volcani activity centered in the San Juan Mountains millions of years ago.
• The Continental Divide passes through the eastern section of the county.
• 368 of the 405 square iles in San Juan County are public lands.