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Million Dollar Highway

Photo: Carol M. Highsmith / No known restrictions on publication (public domain dedication) · source

⛰️ Mountains

Million Dollar Highway

Ouray to Silverton, CO · San Juan Mountains

About

The twelve miles of US 550 south of Ouray climb the Uncompahgre Gorge to the 11,018-foot summit of Red Mountain Pass, hugging cliffs carved straight into the rock with no guardrail between you and the drop. Hairpin switchbacks open onto the rust-red slopes of Red Mountain and a wall of snow-streaked San Juan peaks, the old mining country that gave the route its name. Go slow, pull off at the overlooks, and save it for a clear day from late spring through fall when the high passes are open.

Highlights

Red Mountain Pass summit at 11,018 feetCliff-edge hairpins through the Uncompahgre GorgeRust-red Red Mountain and snow-capped San Juan peaksPart of the San Juan Skyway Scenic BywayOld mining ruins and overlooks between Ouray and Silverton

Getting there

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This 236-mile loop out of Durango stitches together the most dramatic corner of the San Juans, climbing over Red Mountain Pass on the white-knuckle Million Dollar Highway between Silverton and Ouray before swinging through Telluride and the old mining towns of Rico and Dolores. Come the third week of September the aspens turn the whole drive gold, and the valleys go so saturated you half doubt your own eyes. Give it a full day at least, longer if you want to stop for the hot springs in Ouray and the cliff dwellings near Mancos.

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Yosemite is a Sierra Nevada showpiece where glacier-carved granite walls, thundering waterfalls, and ancient giant sequoias crowd into one valley floor. From the visitor hub in Yosemite Valley you can crane your neck at El Capitan and Half Dome, chase spring waterfall spray, or drive up to a viewpoint that frames the whole high country. It is one of the most scenic and worth-the-trip national parks in the country, though summer crowds and seasonal road closures reward visitors who plan ahead.

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Curated guides that feature Million Dollar Highway.

The Rocky Mountains21 places

The Rocky Mountains

Alpine lakes, fourteeners, and golden aspen along the spine of the West. The Rockies at their most iconic: the Maroon Bells mirrored in their lake, the Tetons rising straight off the valley floor, Glacier's Going-to-the-Sun Road, the red spires of the Garden of the Gods, and Idaho's serrated Sawtooths over Redfish Lake. From Colorado's San Juans to the Wyoming Tetons, Montana's Glacier, and the Idaho high country, with high passes and old mining towns in between.