Editing Lake City, Colorado (section)

== Tourism ==
In the first half of the twentieth century, Lake City's economic base shifted from mining to tourism. People had recognized the area's scenic and recreational resources from the earliest days, however, Lake City's remote location had discouraged visitors. Until the branch of the Denver & Rio Grand Railroad line was completed in 1889, people journeyed by stagecoach 100 miles from Saguache or 140 miles from Del Norte. The rustic Lake Shore Inn opened at Lake San Cristobal in 1917, signaling the era of tourism that has continued into the twenty-first century.<ref name="Lake City Colorado National Historic District" />

Beginning around 1920, visitors began arriving at Lake City by automobile. This trend grew as highways were developed to Colorado's western slope and roads were improved in Hinsdale County. Early auto tourists stayed in the mining era hotels. Lake City's first auto tourist court opened in 1929. From the 1930s through the 1960s, a half dozen or so tourist accommodations opened each decade in Lake City and along the Lake Fork.<ref name="Lake City Colorado National Historic District" />

Lake City's mountain environs offered an array of outdoor recreation that encompassed fishing, hunting, boating, mountain climbing, horseback riding, hiking, tent camping, and picnicking.
Local merchants accommodated sportsmen; for example, Last Chance Livery and Feed Stable advertised "Fine Saddle Horses" and "Special Arrangements for Fishing and Hunting Parties" at the turn of the century. Lake City Café and Bakery offered to "cook your trout" and packed picnic lunches for visitors. An early booster club promoted boat racing on Lake San Cristobal. Within town, diversions included horse and bicycle racing around a quarter mile-circular track built about 1910 at Ball Flats. Sportsmen were invited to Lake City's "happy hunting grounds" and promised "if you make Lake City your camp headquarters you can be sure of bagging your buck." Game included deer, elk, bear, bighorn sheep, and wild turkey. [[Uncompahgre Peak]] and the surrounding mountains were covered by abandoned mining roads that became hiking trails, routes for trail rides and pack rides, and, later, jeep roads.<ref name="Lake City Colorado National Historic District" />

In the 1930s and 1940s, Lake City's isolated location and deteriorating buildings gave tourists and summer residents a sense of escaping from civilization. As in other isolated mountain towns, [[Rum-running|bootlegging]] and gambling created the allure of lawlessness. In 1949, a ''Denver Post'' reporter spoke of the town's numerous slot machines: "Virtually every business place in Lake City has one or more machines… The post office and telephone office are almost the only exceptions."<ref name="Lake City Colorado National Historic District" />