Eagle County Information
The lead carbonate strike in Leadville in 1874 brought many prospectors to the valley which became Eagle County. By 1879 a permanent camp was established and became the town of Redcliff. Eagle County was created by the Colorado legislature on February 11, 1883, from portions of Summit County. It was named after the Eagle River, which runs through the county. The county seat was originally set in Red Cliff, Colorado, but was moved to the town of Eagle in 1921.
Eagle County Courthouse 1932
Once dependent upon mining and agriculture, today's economy is driven by tourism. The Vail and Beaver Creek ski resorts are located in Eagle County. The evolution of Vail into an international resort is credited to the famous 10th Mountain Division ski troops who were introduced to the valley while training at Camp Hale in the 1940s. Following World War II, a group of former Army buddies returned and developed a ski resort, Vail.
Much of the county is taken up by White River National Forest, and much of the rest is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Interstate 70 crosses the county from east to west.
The Eagle River is a tributary of the Colorado River, approximately 70 mi (113 km) long, in west central Colorado in the United States.
It rises in southeastern Eagle County, at the continental divide, and flows northwest past Gilman, Minturn, Avon. Near Wolcott, it turns west, flowing past Eagle and Gypsum, and joins the Colorado at Dotsero, in western Eagle County.
The Eagle is navigable by typical small river craft upstream to Vail in most years. Its flow ranges from 200 cfs in late summer of dry years to 7000 cfs during spring runoff.
The Eagle Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited is dedicated to protecting, conserving and restoring Eagle County’s coldwater fisheries and their watersheds. Current action items can be found here. The conservation efforts of this Trout Unlimited chapter can be found here.
During August 2010, every Wednesday from 4:00 to 8:00pm, grab a few friends and head over to the Upslope Brewing taproom in Bolder, CO to enjoy some of their delicious craft brews. If you buy beer or other products to take home, a portion of those proceeds go directly to CTU – its a win-win situation!
Eagle County Demographics