Marble town – A lot to offer for nature lovers

Tuesday, May 3, 2022

Marble, a small mountain town with less than 150 residents has very less attractions to talk about, yet has a lot to offer. From near and far places, visitors come to Marble to enjoy hiking, fishing and make the most of its serene nature, and the town has long welcomed them with open arms.

Before the pandemic, Marble was quite popular among summer tourists but since 2020, this mountain town has witnessed huge influx of visitors from Colorado and other popular outdoor destinations across United States. As the businesses of Marble have flourished, residents started noticing an effect in terms of the quality of life and environment, mainly on Lead King Loop, a well-known roadway for off-highway vehicles, leading to Crystal, the old mining town.

To quote Amber McMahill, Marble’s newly elected town trustee, “Marble’s historic base has always been people that come up here for nature, to get away from the noise, to find some solitude, and just get lost in the forest. But what’s been happening is these RZRs and side-by-sides and OHVs — not that I blame them — but they’ve had kind of a disproportionate impact. The noise really makes the other kinds of enjoyment of our town not possible.”

The town has felt environmental and socioeconomic impacts of heightened visitation in recent years. Town Manager Ron Leach said that dust and noise coming from OHVs on the Lead King Loop, not to mention the degradation to the area’s vegetation and wildlife, has concerned Marble’s residents, but none of those issues are as obvious as the lack of parking.

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