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Hiking | Excursions | Driving DrivingThe Million
Dollar Highway We drive it almost every day during our visits and never cease to marvel at the road, the builders, the scenery, and the splendid driving experience. As much as we've researched, we have yet to find the reason for its popular name ... but the driving experience seems worth every penny of a million dollars! The road travels what may be the most rugged, primitive and beautiful country in the States. Deep, shadowy gorges, icy streams, clear lakes, twinkling waterfalls. Scarlet mountains. Forests of dark and light green, splashed in autumn with the golds and yellows of the aspens. Scattered throughout, crumbling cabins, collapsed mills, abandoned mines. All, laced with four-wheel trails waiting for your exploration.
You'll want to be cautious, of course. You'll want to remember that brakes are for emergencies and for stopping, so you'll shift to a lower gear when going down the hills to let your engine do most of the braking. You'll want to leave a little space between yourself and the next vehicle. But there's no reason to be afraid of this road. You'll be joined on it by campers, extra-long RVs, motorcycles, Greyhounds and semitrailers. Trust me, your family sedan won't give you a bit of trouble on this road.
The climb out of Ouray is a wonderful series of curves and drop-offs, cliffs on one side, deep canyon on the other. You'll pass through an avalanche shed and then a series of switchbacks to a level road at Ironton. You'll understand why a railroad never covered this first portion. A route was once designed for it. Impractical though. While the distance to Ironton Flats is only four or five miles, the rail route would have required more than 30 miles of construction! |
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From midway along
Ironton Flats to Silverton you'll more or less follow the old railroad right-of-way. Along the flats you'll see occasional signs of mines. The really important ones occur as you leave the Flats and commence the climb to the top of the pass. After a couple of easy miles at 55mph you'll begin more switchbacks taking you past some of the richest mining claims, to your left: Guston, Yankee Girl (shaft house remains distinctly visible) and the National Belle at Red Mountain Town just short of the summit. You'll crest at Red Mountain Pass (11,075 feet/3,375 meters). From there you descend for a way over undulating turns, reaching the horseshoe-shaped Chattanooga Curve. This construction, slightly modified from its rail origin, was and is a civil engineering masterpiece. From here on out the road is relatively unspectacular compared to where you've been, but more interesting than 99% of the roads you've probably ridden in the past. The 45 mile route between Silverton and Durango has interesting sections around the Molas and Coal Bank passes. Running from the south on the western leg the section around Lizard Head Pass and Trout Lake on the way in to Telluride is quite lovely. More Driving
Opportunities You'll find another view of enjoying the area without a four-wheel-drive vehicle in Driving the Mountains ... Without Bumps. Actually, you will find a few bumps along some of the routes, but the family car will handle them just fine! Walks and Hikes
Weather in the mountains is more changeable than you may be used to as well, and the temperatures lower than they were where you started out. You'll find a brief discussion of what to be aware of in Mountain Weather.
The bottom (of seven) Cascade Falls is located off the east end of The water in the creek is very cold, probably under 40 degrees. This keeps the area pleasantly cool on a warm day. The walk up and back takes 30-40 minutes for oldsters like us, including time for rest stops and sightseeing. Be sure and cross the creek up at the end. There are trails on both sides, though you'll have to ford the stream. It's a very stable bottom and shallow, so you shouldn't get much more than your soles wet. You'll note the area is almost entirely red sandstone, though you'll find a number of gray/green large boulders. We're not geologists but think they would call them 'erratics'. You will find the stone in the Amphitheater and Blowout areas to the south is of similar gray/green granite. It appears that a glacier moved the boulders to the Falls area during one of the glaciation periods. Box Canyon Park is entered a short distance from the south end of town after US550 begins its climb to Red Mountain. Look for the turnoff to the right at the angle of one of the early switchbacks. You'll find a short visit interesting. If you have the energy you can climb on the good trail a short distance to the lookout shelter for a grand view of the Amphitheater and town. Continuing above this is a bit strenuous but most of us can reach the 'High Bridge' in a few minutes with only a stop or two to gather our breath. The walk to the Corkscrew Turntable is suitable also for almost everyone, and takes you to a delightful bit of 19th century history. Directions for reaching the starting point and descriptive information are on our Ghost Towns page. The walk is less than 3/4 mile from the Joker Boarding House, where you can park the family sedan, and climbs 200 feet in that distance. At several points you'll have a superb view of the mountains and the Ironton Flats area and lake. Wildlife abound and you're likely to run across chipmunks, squirrels and possibly marmots and mule deer. A moderate hike 3-1/2 miles round trip, (6 km.) to Portland Creek and the Upper Cascade Falls begins at the Amphitheater Campground overlooking Ouray. You can continue on a somewhat more strenuous hike to the remains of the Chief Ouray Mine (old bunkhouse and machinery building.) From the same starting point off Oak Street and up Pine Crest Drive on the west edge of town you'll find more difficult hikes to Twin Peaks and Oak Creek. The Twin Peaks route meanders through forests, meadows and then steep switchbacks up to the narrow summit. There are several more technical sections as you near the end of the 2,600 foot (790 meter) climb. The Oak Creek trail branches off about a mile from the beginning and takes you into Oak Creek Canyon where you can walk for several miles if you wish; the views from both of these are excellent.
You can also scale several sizable mountains including Abrams, Hayden and Sneffels, all above 4,000 meters. These don't require great technical climbing skills, but they shouldn't be attempted without good rock climbing experience. A 4X4 is desirable to reach some of the trailheads and required for a few. You'll find an excellent hiking guide and trail map in Books, as well as in Ouray of course. Our Favorites Trip Tips and Tools Copyright © 1997-2001 E.J.
Gehrlein Traveling |
he San Juan Scenic
Skyway south of Ouray, US 550, is one of the great roads in America. 
There's nothing, really, to compare it to. We
know of no other road offering as much excitement, and which appeals to such a variety of
interests.
o us one favor
though, if you will. If traffic is building up behind you, find the next pullout (they're
found quite often) and give traffic a chance to pass.
Imagine building this in the late 19th century with only manpower,
burros, shovels and pickaxes. This level stretch may look easy, but the railroad actually
clung to the slopes to your left to service the mines there. While there are some mines to
the right, the most important (richest) were on the slopes of the Red Mountains.
ther routes for the family sedan are 
fter 
emember you're above 8,000 feet
altitude. Whatever physical condition you were in at home, you'll need time to adjust to
the reduced oxygen. Don't overextend yourself early in your visit. Because of the altitude
and extreme dryness you may experience headaches. In any event, we suggest taking along,
and drinking, plenty of water.
everal excellent hikes are available
in the Ouray area. The two least strenuous and so suitable for almost everyone are to the
base of Cascade Falls and to and around Box Canyon Falls in the southwest corner of Ouray.
8th Street. It's only 1/4 mile to the falls, though you'll climb 200
feet in the short distance, an average 16% grade. Nearly a dozen interpretive signs add
interest to your short trek. You'll find a selection of brochures at the parking area just
before entering the park.
arther afield but within only a few
miles of Ouray you'll find a variety of hikes, some fairly easy (Guston), some just relatively
moderate (Portland Mine, Weehawken, Baldy and Bear Creek) and a few difficult (Bridge of
Heaven, Blue Lakes and Ice Lake Trails.) 