The first recorded burials in Telluride’s Lone Tree Cemetery were in the mid-late 1800’s, during Telluride’s mining boom era, when avalanches, flu epidemics, mining accidents and labor strikes took many lives. The 1996 Lone Tree Cemetery Survey stated that at that time, “The Cemetery Board estimated that there are more than 2,000 burials in the Lone Tree Cemetery, many without headstones or markers.”

Today, as the community has grown, so has the number of souls whose final resting place lies in the Lone Tree Cemetery.

The Lone Tree Cemetery District is a county cemetery taxing district located within the eastern part of San Miguel County, Colorado. As a taxing district it is subject to the Taxpayers Bill of Rights, Article X, section 20, of the Colorado Constitution, a/k/a TABOR as well as provisions of the Gallagher Amendment. We are funded, in part, by limited property tax revenues as well as funds derived from the sale of interment rights to cemetery plots, plaque spaces on the Memorial Wall, and donations. The boundaries of the Lone Tree Cemetery District are shown on the Cemetery District Map, as prepared by the San Miguel County GIS department Please refer to your San Miguel County Property Tax Statement to determine if your property lies within the Cemetery District's boundaries. Property tax assessment records are available on the San Miguel County website.

The Cemetery is governed by a three member, volunteer board, appointed by the San Miguel County Board of Commissioners, and operates in accordance with rules authorized by the Colorado county cemetery district statute, C.R.S. 30-20-801 to 808.

The mission of the Board is to preserve, protect and maintain this historic asset and insure the past, present and future history of Telluride have representation in the Lone Tree Cemetery.

The Cemetery is open seasonally from May to October, sunrise to sunset. Please abide conduct and rules when visiting.

Historical tours offered by the Telluride Historical Museum.

ADA Access: Lower East + West Drive Gates.