Montrose is a

home rule municipality Statutory city may refer to: * Statutory city (Austria), an Austrian municipality acting as a district administrative authority * Statutory city (Czech Republic), a Czech city with special privileges * Statutory city (United States), a city in the ...

that is the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

and the most populous municipality of

Montrose County, Colorado Montrose County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 42,679. The county seat is Montrose, Colorado, Montrose, for which the county is named. Montrose County com ...

, United States. The city population was 20,291 at the 2020 census, within a total area of 18.5 square miles. The main road that leads in and out of Montrose is

U.S. Highway 50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlantic ...

. The city is located in

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

Colorado, in the

Uncompahgre Valley The Uncompahgre Valley is an agricultural valley of the Uncompahgre River around the town of Montrose in the western part of the U.S. state of Colorado. The valley is bounded to the south and east by the San Juan Mountains and to the west by th ...

, and is an economic, labor, and transportation waypoint for the surrounding area. Montrose is the second-largest city in western Colorado, after Grand Junction.

History

Montrose was incorporated on May 2, 1882, and named after the

Marquis of Montrose Duke of Montrose (named for Montrose, Angus) is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of Scotland. The title was created anew in 1707, for James Graham, 4th Marquess of Montrose, great-grandson of famed James Graham, 1st Marquess ...

, immortalized in Sir Walter Scott's novel ''

A Legend of Montrose ''A Legend of Montrose'' is an historical novel by Sir Walter Scott, set in Scotland in the 1640s during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It forms, along with '' The Bride of Lammermoor'', the 3rd series of Scott's '' Tales of My Landlord''. The ...

'' by Oliver D. "Pappy" Loutzenhizer and Joseph Selig. The

Denver & Rio Grande The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad , often shortened to ''Rio Grande'', D&RG or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, was an American Class I railroad company. The railroad started as a narrow-gauge line running south fro ...

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

was built west toward Grand Junction and reached Montrose later in 1882, and the town became an important regional shipping center. A branch railroad line served the mineral-rich

San Juan Mountains The San Juan Mountains is a high and rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico. The area is highly mineralized (the Colorado Mineral Belt) and figured in the gold and silver mining industry ...

to the south. In 1909, the U.S. government completed construction of the Gunnison Tunnel, located east of Montrose. It provided irrigation water from the

Gunnison River The Gunnison River is located in western Colorado, United States and is one of the largest tributaries of the Colorado River. Description The river flows east to west and has a drainage area of according to the USGS. The drainage basin of the ...

in the Black Canyon to the

, helping turn Montrose into an agricultural hub. The Uncompahgre Project is one of the oldest of those in the area by the U.S.

Bureau of Reclamation The Bureau of Reclamation, formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it ...

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of ; all of it is land. Montrose is at the south end of the Uncompahgre valley and is built on the

Uncompahgre River The Uncompahgre River is a tributary of the Gunnison River, approximately long, in southwestern Colorado in the United States. Lake Como at in northern San Juan County, in the Uncompahgre National Forest in the northwestern San Juan Mountain ...

, which runs to the north, where 60 miles further its waters will join the

Colorado River The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...

. It is surrounded by, to the north, the widening Uncompahgre Valley and the

Grand Mesa The Grand Mesa is a large mesa in western Colorado in the United States. It is the largest flat-topped mountain in the world. It has an area of about and stretches for about east of Grand Junction between the Colorado River and the Gunnison ...

, to the east, the

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in western Colorado and managed by the National Park Service. The Black Canyon of the Gunnison was establishe ...

, to the south, the

, and to the west the

Uncompahgre Plateau The Uncompahgre Plateau in western Colorado is a distinctive large uplift part of the Colorado Plateau. is a Ute word that describes the water: "Dirty Water" or "Rocks that make Water Red". The plateau, with an average elevation of , rises from ...

. The valley is arid, and is only arable due to the water from the Gunnison Tunnel and

Ridgway Reservoir Ridgway Reservoir is a lake impounded by Ridgway Dam () on the Uncompahgre River north of the town of Ridgway in Ouray County, Colorado in the western United States. Ridgway Dam was built as part of the Dallas Creek Project. Construction began i ...

Climate

Montrose features a

semi-arid A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a aridity, dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below Evapotranspiration#Potential evapotranspiration, potential evapotranspiration, but not as l ...

Continental climate zone. The town sits on high grasslands in the

of Western Colorado. Snowfall occurs during the winter but is usually short-lived due to the high elevation and abundant sunshine.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, there were 20,291 people and 8,175 households residing in the city. The population density was . The average median age was 45.2 years and the average work commute time was 15.4 minutes, nearly 40% lower than the State of Colorado. In the city, the population was spread out, with 21.0% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 21.3% from 25 to 44, 25.0% from 45 to 64, and 25.3% who were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females, there were 86.4 males. The racial makeup of the city was 78.44%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.57%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 1.36% American Indian or Alaskan Native, 1.15% Asian, 0.09%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 8.68% from other races, and 9.71% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 4,491 people or 22.13% of the population. There were 9,468 housing units at an average density of . There were a total of 8,175 households, with an average family size of 2.90. 57.8% are married, 21.4% never married, 12.6% divorced, 1.2% separated, and 7.0% widowed. The homeownership rate was 68.8%, slightly higher than the Colorado average. The median gross rent was $936 per month, or nearly 30% lower than the State of Colorado and nearly 36% lower than neighboring Telluride. The median income for a household in the city was $52,534, a 56% increase from the 2010 US Census. The median income for a family was $68,801. About 16.8% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 24.8% of those under age 18 and 9.9% of those age 65 or over. Approximately 27.5% of the population in the city has a

Bachelor's Degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

or higher, with 27.3% reporting a high school or equivalent degree, and 26.7% with some college but no degree. About 77.7% of those eligible for school enrollment between kindergarten and 12th grade are enrolled, much higher than the Colorado average of 66.5%.

Economy

Due to its relative affordability and proximity to many outdoor recreation activities, Montrose is known as a manufacturing hub for outdoor products. Fly-fishing companies Ross Reels, Abel, and Airflo are headquartered in the city. Additionally, Scott Fly Rods relocated to Montrose from Telluride in 1993. Gordon Composites, maker of nearly 90 percent of the high-performance laminate material used in the bow-hunting industry, is located in Montrose. Secret Creek, formerly known as Colorado Yurt Company, maker of handcrafted yurts, tipis, and rugged canvas wall tents, is also located in Montrose. In November 2017, the City approved a $10 million fund for public infrastructure improvements within the Colorado Outdoors development, and was the recipient of a $2 million grant for a new trail system. The GOCO grant was the largest single grant awarded to the City of Montrose in its history, and connects the newly built, $30 million Montrose Recreation Center to the project, safely under-passing both major highways within the city.

Russell Stover Candies Russell Stover Chocolates, Inc. is an American manufacturer of candy, chocolate, and confections. Founded by Russell Stover, an American chemist and entrepreneur, and his wife Clara Stover in 1923, it is an independent subsidiary of Swiss ch ...

closed its Montrose plant in the spring of 2021, eliminating 400 jobs and offering employees to relocate to plants in Kansas and Texas. The plant was listed as a "primary employer" for the city on its Economic Development Corporation website. The former plant building was sold in 2024, but is still vacant as of March 2025. In October 2020, the City of Montrose announced a multi-year, multi-million dollar river restoration project along the

, including a $785,000 grant from the

Colorado Water Conservation Board The Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) operates as a division of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources. The Colorado legislature founded the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) through the passage of HousBill no. 6in 1937 for the ...

. In 2024, both Shelter Distilling and restaurant Toasty opened after receiving economic incentives from the city.

Parks and recreation

Recreational facilities include th
Montrose Water Sports Park
a large (80,000 square foot) community recreation center with and indoor walking/jogging track, and over 38 public parks. The city is bicycle friendly, with

League of American Bicyclists League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

designating the city as a Bicycle Friendly Community. There are also three 18-hole golf courses within the city, Bridges Golf & Country Club, Black Canyon Golf Course, and Cobble Creek Golf Club. The long running Montrose Summer Music Series also provides live music entertainment in the summer months at the Montrose Rotary Amphitheater

Education

K-12 Education

Montrose is served by Montrose County School District RE-1J, which operates eight schools in the city: *Cottonwood Elementary School *Johnson Elementary School *Northside Elementary School *Oak Grove Elementary School *Pomona Elementary School *Centennial Middle School *Columbine Middle School *Montrose High School Also located in Montrose are Vista Charter School and Black Canyon Alternative High School.

Higher Education

The city's higher education needs are served by a regional campus of

Colorado Mesa University Colorado Mesa University (CMU or Mesa) is a public university in Grand Junction, Colorado, United States. Originally established in 1925 as Grand Junction Junior College, the school was renamed to Mesa College in 1940. The college began offerin ...

, located on South Cascade Avenue. CMU Montrose offers 14 academic programs, as well as general education courses. In the fall 2024 semester, the campus served 315 students. Montrose is also home to a branch campus of Technical College of the Rockies, offering technical and vocational certificates.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Montrose Regional Airport Montrose Regional Airport is a non-towered public airport on the northwest side of Montrose, in zip code 81401 in southwestern Colorado. Its two runways are at elevation 5,759 feet (1,755 m). MTJ covers 966 acres (391 ha) of land. Monarch Airl ...

serves the Montrose area with regional service to

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

. As the nearest major airport to the Telluride Ski Area, Montrose sees heavy seasonal service. Montrose has a local non-profit bus service called All Points Transit. Its three lines run only during weekdays. Montrose is part of Colorado's

Bustang Bustang is an intercity bus service in the U.S. state of Colorado. Service began in 2015 and originally traveled between Denver and Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, and Glenwood Springs. Service has since been expanded to connect Grand Junction ...

intercity bus An intercity bus service (North American English) or intercity coach service (British English and Commonwealth English), also called a long-distance, express, over-the-road, commercial, long-haul, or highway bus or coach service, is a public t ...

network; three bus lines serve the town. It is along the Durango-Telluride-Grand Junction Outrider line.

Major highways

US 50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlantic ...

connects Montrose to Grand Junction, Gunnison and

Pueblo Pueblo refers to the settlements of the Pueblo peoples, Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, currently in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. The permanent communities, including some of the oldest continually occupied settlement ...

. *

US 550 U.S. Route 550 (US 550) is a spur of U.S. Highway 50 that runs from Bernalillo, New Mexico to Montrose, Colorado in the western United States. The section from Silverton to Ouray is frequently called the Million Dollar Highway.

ends in Montrose, and connects the city to Silverton, Ouray, and

Durango Durango, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Durango, is one of the 31 states which make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in the northwest portion of the country. With a population of 1,832,650 ...

Notable people

Hall of Fame

horse jockey The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million ...

Anna Lee Alred, the first American women to receive a jockey license, was born Montrose.

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby () is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I stakes Thoroughbred racing, race run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The race is run by three-year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of . Colt (horse), Colts and geldin ...

and

Preakness Preakness may refer to: * The Preakness or Preakness Stakes, an American flat thoroughbred horse race held in Baltimore, Maryland * Preakness (horse), an American thoroughbred racehorse from Preakness Stables * Preakness, New Jersey, a section of W ...

winner

Pat Valenzuela Patrick Angel Valenzuela (born October 17, 1962) is an American thoroughbred horse racing jockey. Born into a racing family, his father plus three of his uncles, including Ismael Valenzuela, were jockeys. He rode his first career winner on Novemb ...

was also born in Montrose. Montrose is home to several businesspeople, including the former CEO of J.C. Penny stores and chairman of

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...

, Myron "Mike" Ullman. Local businessman David Dragoo also currently lives in Montrose. Montrose is the birthplace of American

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

and

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

ist

Dalton Trumbo James Dalton Trumbo (December 9, 1905 – September 10, 1976) was an American screenwriter who scripted many award-winning films, including ''Roman Holiday'' (1953), '' Exodus'', ''Spartacus'' (both 1960), and '' Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo'' (194 ...

, who scripted films including ''

Roman Holiday ''Roman Holiday'' is a 1953 American romantic comedy film directed and produced by William Wyler. It stars Audrey Hepburn as a princess out to see Rome on her own and Gregory Peck as a reporter. Hepburn won an Academy Award for Best Actress f ...

'', ''

Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Ex ...

'', ''

Spartacus Spartacus (; ) was a Thracians, Thracian gladiator (Thraex) who was one of the Slavery in ancient Rome, escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major Slave rebellion, slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Historical accounts o ...

'', and ''

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo ''Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo'' is a 1944 American war film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The screenplay by Dalton Trumbo is based on the 1943 book of the same name by Captain Ted W. Lawson. Lawson was a pilot on the historic Doolittle Raid, Ame ...

''.

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

charting guitarist, songwriter & producer A.J. Fullerton grew up in Montrose, CO. graduating from Montrose High School in 2013. He currently resides in Nashville, TN.

References

External links

City of Montrose official websiteVisitMontrose official visitor website
{{Authority control Cities in Montrose County, Colorado County seats in Colorado Colorado Western Slope Populated places established in 1882 1882 establishments in Colorado Cities in Colorado