Entry No. 45 — the Grand Junction file — filed under: historic
Two-Story Outhouse
Tucked into the alley between Elk and Maroon Avenues, this hand-hewn wooden outhouse is one of Colorado's last two-story privies from the mining era. The engineering is grimly clever: Crested Butte's snowpack once routinely buried single-story outhouses, so builders stacked two chambers and offset the holes on each floor — upper seat positioned slightly further back than the lower — to keep things from going literally wrong between neighbors. A covered walkway connected the second story directly to the upper floor of the adjacent building, letting residents reach facilities without wading through chest-deep drifts. The structure, painted red, retains both doors and both chambers, and stands as the town's most quietly weird landmark inside a National Historic District that has been preserved since 1974.
The move: Wander old-town Crested Butte's Victorian blocks until you spot the red two-story privy lurking in the alley, then grab coffee on Elk Avenue and dissect the offset-hole engineering with your date. It's odd, free, and icebreaker-proof.
📍 Before you go Free outdoor viewing at any hour — no tickets, no hours, no gate. The structure sits in a semi-private alley and is easier to spot from Maroon Avenue looking across than from Elk Avenue itself. The Crested Butte Museum (4th and Elk) offers guided Elk Avenue walking tours Tuesday and Thursday, June through September ($20–$25), and the chamber's free self-guided brochure covers it as well. The outhouse is no longer in service but remains structurally intact. Snow can make the alley messy in winter; summer and fall offer the cleanest access.
- 📍 Crested Butte
- 💸 Free
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Outdoors
Where: 311 Elk Ave alley (between Elk and Maroon Aves, on the east side of 3rd St), Crested Butte, CO 81224
Hours: Added 2026-06-11 — confirm current hours before you go.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Proof: source 1 · source 2 · source 3 · source 4
last checked: 2026-06-11