Placerville, CO

Placerville is a San Miguel County census-designated place and post office at the meeting of Colorado 62 and 145, near the San Miguel River and Leopard Creek. The 2020 census counted 362 residents. It began as a mining camp named for placer-gold workings along the river and creek; later, the Rio Grande Southern Railroad built a depot and passing sidings west of the first settlement, which became known as Old Placerville. That split between mining camp and rail-era town is the key to reading the place.

ATTRTony Webster from Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States / CC BY 2.0

Today Placerville is a small high-country crossroads between Ridgway and Telluride, with the river valley directing the two highway routes and the post office holding the named community together. Colorado 62 follows Leopard Creek, and Colorado 145 follows the San Miguel River valley. Trout Lake belongs to the wider mountain landscape around the San Miguel valley. Placerville's local scoop is a former mining camp whose identity is layered across placer gold, a narrow-gauge railroad, two state highways, and a river in a very small footprint.