for that reservoir, the Ridgway Dam, was proposed in 1957 as part of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's Dallas Creek Project, and its original location would have inundated Ridgway. A 1975 decision to put the dam further downstream kept the town above-water, and residents coined their own nickname, "The Town that Refused to Die." Land around the reservoir became the Ridgway State Park north of town limits. Ridgway is nationally recognized for being “Mavericks”. Geography Ridgway is situated in the Uncompahgre Valley at an elevation of . The town is located on the San Juan Skyway, cradled in the heart of some of the most photographed mountains in the world. The nearby San Juan Mountain Range has 14 of Colorado's 53 peaks over 14,000 feet. Among them, Mt. Sneffels is most prominent from Ridgway. The eponymous Mt. Ridgway, in height, is also nearby, west of Ouray. To the east of the town also lies the smaller but equally-grand Cimarron Range, with Uncompahgre Peak at . The Uncompahgre River flows from Lake Como at in northern San Juan County, in the Uncompahgre National Forest in the northwestern San Juan Mountains is the headwaters of the river. It flows northwest past Ouray, Ridgway, Montrose, and Olathe and joins the Gunnison at Confluence Park in Delta. The river forms Poughkeepsie Gulch and the Uncompahgre Gorge. The major tributaries are all creeks draining the northwest San Juan Mountains. There are two dams on the Uncompahgre River, a small diversion dam in the Uncompahgre Gorge, and Ridgway Dam below Ridgway, which forms Ridgway Reservoir. The river is used for irrigation in the Uncompahgre Valley. The Uncompahgre is unnavigable, except at high water. The name given to the river comes from the Ute word Uncompaghre, which loosely translates to "dirty water" or "red water spring" and is likely a reference to the many hot springs in the vicinity of Ouray. Lake Otonawanda is the primary source of Ridgway's municipal water. Climate Ridgway has a humid continental climate (Koppen: Dfb) with four distinct seasons. Summers are usually warm to hot while winter days are cold with nighttime temperatures dropping close to zero. Annual snowfall is heavy, averaging 85 inches (216 cm). Demographics As of the census of 2010, there were 924 people, 404 households, and 256 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 511 housing units at an average density of .