THE MILLION DOLLAR HIGHWAY

We are....On The Road ...and steadily making progress towards Baja.

We had a slight lull while these mighty Maltese Retrievers finished their pheasant and wild boar hunts in the Nebraska corn fields. Spitting a few feathers and some bristles, they are now signaling their eagerness to get back on the Baja trail.
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Plodding steadily on, we are now in Colorado on the fabled Million Dollar Highway.

Having been over this route 'way back when', we decided it was time to rediscover this scenic drive..some of the best mountain views in America..

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Okay, off we go on a mountain drive..perhaps remniscent of the Alps to roaming nomads. We traveled an unusual direction this time...Denver to Durango first, visiting friends along that route, then north up ...The Million Dollar Highway.


As I all too clearly remembered from a previous trip, this route is not for inexperienced RVers or drivers new to driving large rigs or pulling trailers. The road is narrow, very steep, and sometimes the edges are straight down a thousand feet and more. In very precarious places you swear the road-edge is crumbling away as you are looking...and sometimes it is! There are places where 2 large vehicles should NOT meet. Some curves on sheer drop-offs show omninous skid marks ending at the road edge.


The Million Highway Dollar stretches for about 25 miles in western Colorado and follows the route of U.S. 550 between Silverton and Ouray, Colorado. It is part of the San Juan Skyway Scenic Byway. Between Durango and Silverton the Skyway loosely parallels the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. The last time we were through here we entered the Iron Horse -Bicycle Race between Silverton & Durango. I damn near died on that %$#@ bike .. from now on I'm a train lover.

p.s. as I am writing the Iron Horse engine just blew it's whistle and came chugging past our campsite...here's a quick pic, best I could do with a coffee cup in one hand, camera in the other. It makes a trip every day, so we will sign up for the next one. Today we go to lay a wreath at the gravesite of my bicycle.
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U.S. Route 550 at the Uncompahgre Gorge

Though the entire stretch has been called the Million Dollar Highway, it is really the twelve miles (19 km) south of Ouray through the Uncompahgre Gorge to the summit of Red Mountain Pass which gains the highway its name.

This stretch through the gorge is challenging and potentially hazardous to drive; it is characterized by steep cliffs, narrow lanes, and a lack of guardrails. I kid you not, when driving you should keep your eyes on the road at all times! The drop is ..well, a looong way down.

The origin of the name Million Dollar Highway is disputed. There are several legends of its origin from "it cost a million dollars a mile" to build in the 1920's to it contains "a million dollars" in gold ore in the fill dirt to a "million dollar view."
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The ascent of Red Mountain Pass is marked with a number of hairpin "S" curves used to gain elevation, and again, narrow lanes for traffic- many cut directly into the sides of mountains. Travel north from Silverton to Ouray allows drivers to hug the inside of curves; travel south from Ouray to Silverton perches drivers on the vertiginous outside edge of the highway, where stones from the edge plummet a thousand feet straight down. Large RVs travel in both directions, which adds a degree of excitement (or danger) to people in cars..
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The road is kept open year-round. The snow season starts in October, and snow will often close the road in winter. Chains may be required to drive, but we made it without any snowfall as of October 18th.

The route passes over three mountain passes:

Coal Bank Pass, elevation 10,640 ft (3,240 m). (3243 m)

Molas Pass, elevation 10,970 ft (3,340 m). (3343 m)

Red Mountain Pass, elevation 11,018 ft (3,358 m). (3358 m)
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The highway passes by Trimble Springs, hot springs that have been open for visitors since the late 19th century. We soaked in those, great for relieving driving strain on my shoulders and neck. The highway runs north, under the Hermosa Cliffs and along the river. Where I managed to add a sidedish to our dinner...spincasting with a tiny Mepps.
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It enters the San Juan National Forest and drivers pass by Engineer Mountain and Twilight Peak before crossing Coal Bank Pass. Next is Molas Pass, which offers a panoramic view of Molas Lake, the Animas River Gorge, and Snowdon Peak.

You pass through the neat little town of Silverton, elevation 9,320 feet, surrounded by 13,000 foot elevations.

The highway leaves Silverton and proceeds up Mineral Creek Valley before ascending to Red Mountain Pass. The ruins of many mines are visible along the way. The highway then goes through a series of steep grades and hairpin turns before reaching Lookout Point, which offers a view of the town of Ouray..

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Coming around a high mountain curve I spied some Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep grazing quite peacefully on the highway..literally on the highway.. eating something they liked at the pavement's edge, most likely salt residues. Luckily there was a pullout handy and I could get some close photos of these wild creatures of the mountain heights. No full curl males in this bunch, all matures were ewes, but a nice family going about it's businees.

Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep. Colorado's state animal. An interesting fact about Bighorns. 200 years ago, the bighorn was widespread across the western USA, Canada, and northern Mexico. Estimates put their numbers at higher than 2 million. Hunting, disease and loss of graze due to domestic sheep reduced those numbers quickly to just a few thousand. After WWII, hunting regulations, natural parks, reintroduction programs, and a decrease in domesticated sheep allowed the bighorns a slow comeback, but not before a Black Hills subspecies went extinct.



The Boy Scouts of America..and in particular the Arizona Boy Scouts..launched a campaign in 1936 to save the almost extinct herd of about 150 bighorns left in that state. It was highly successful and led to the establishment of 1,500,000 acres of bighorn game reserves and many high mountain water holes. Maintained by a camp set up by the Scouts in their fine American tradition of conservation.
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A great scenic drive in a class of it's own. I highly recommend it

[Edited on 10-23-2009 by Pompano]

Don't let this happen to you

Lucy decides to cook in the trailer while Ricky handles the driving. Next, we see a road sign the begining of a windy road.

As Lucy opens the cupboard to get the ingredients the door flies open and bags of flour descend upon her. They knock her to the floor. As she lays there the rv turns the other way and the frig door on the opposite side opens and the eggs come sliding out on top of her.

The camera now shifts to Ricky who finally comes out of the mountains, pulls over, and stops to be with his newly wed wife.

This is what he sees.

Cat Bird Seat

Now that's the way to take care of your dogs.... they have the best seat in the house. They look like great traver's too.

and the photo's of Rocky's .... thanks is been a long, long time since I've seen the area.. plus you caught a few too... just great, makes one feel good about being alive

[Edited on 10-22-2009 by wessongroup]

soulpatch, we talked to this gentlemen in the photo below about his retirement in Durango. He and his wife could not praise the area enough. He said the winters were mild compared to other mountainous communtiies and they were glad of thier choice. A plus are a couple apple trees of his...he gathered some Granny types for us and I reached up for some small reds...ummm..apple pies soon to come! What diet??
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Hah! I recall that movie very well..an old favorite...The Long, Long Trailer.

What a fun wholesome film. I suppose every RVer has a similar story to tell. One of mine has to do with a favorite old rig, a Minnie Winnie 25' motorhome..pictured below. Ahh.. we had some great travels with this old gal before putting her out to pasture some years ago.

My story: It was mid-afternoon and we were enroute to a still distant campspot for the evening. I was driving, but Nature called..so I gave the wheel to her while I went to the rear bathroom. She drove like a pro, making good time to our camp..until some little furry thing scurried across the road, whereupon she slammed on the brakes..HARD!

I was calmly sitting on the throne reading a fishing magazine one moment..and suddenly thrown forward onto my nose the next...then the overhead cabinet flew open and a large HARD bottle of aftershave hit me square on the head..BONK!

She is now fully stopped.. the furry critter safe...she looks back to see my butt high in the air and my face on the floor..faintly groaning. She stares for a moment, then bursts out laughing...... and try as I might, I could not help but join her.

We laughed like loons. We must've looked like crazed RV types to anyone passing by. What a hoot that was..the back of my head still has a dent.
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That Minnie Winnie 25 footer Class C was on of the best designs out. People liked the rear bath!! After a few years of roaming, I repainted her Baja-style.
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Thanks for the compliment, Ken. I wish they were as good as yours, but I'll keep using that camera! It's all fun.
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wessongroup...you bet, could not live without lots of dogs around. The Maltese Brothers, Jazzy and Dexter, are indeed great travelers and super friends. Dexter spotted a nice mule deer buck for me yesterday. Jazzy barks at Dairy Queens.



[Edited on 10-23-2009 by Pompano]

Hi jimgrms,

Well, I guess we didn't quite make that detour to Telluride. I have made it down Black Bear Pass in the distant past, though. ...note I said down, not up. I will assume you know why.

Definetely Colorados' most dangerous, but not the most fatal trail. I have an old photo somewhere of the original sign at the top. "Tulluride 12 miles - 2 hours. You don't have to be crazy to drive this road...but it helps!"

Been there, done that. I will let you guess with which of these rigs.
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I certainly did miss Black Bear Pass on this trip. Of course it would have made history taking a 2WD 35 foot motorhome down that infamous grade, right? We could have parked right above Bridal Viel Falls.

I am an avid Jeeper, and once drove my open air CJ 5 starting in November over (over is easy..down is hard) most of the high passes from Montana to Arizona to Baja, but I had an advantage..I was young and dumb then. I've been to the Jeepers Jamboree when they reverse the trail for the normally one-way only ...downhill from ...Black Bear Pass and was near there in 2004 when a Jeep slipped over the edge, fell several thousand feet, tragically resulting in 2 deaths and 2 severely injured. Also one of my favorite CW McCall word/songs is 'Black Bear Pass.'

Still amazes me that in 1975 a couple of guys, from New Jersey of all places, did the Pass in a 1970 full-size Ford 250 2WD..go figure. I hear they backed down around a couple spots...very nervy. I saw a Dodge 2500 4WD on that torture trail, also.

Coming down in the loose shale is really really hairy. Keep it in 4W LOW and no brakes! The big letdown of that trip is coming down into the realization of the new yuppievilled Telluride. Opps...

All in all the most dangerous place I ever was in a Jeep was in 1993 on I-15, Salt Lake City in a late November snowstorm in my open bimini CJ-5..caught between dozens of semi-trucks & trailers. They completely surrounded me front, back, and to the sides. Could not slow down or speed up..I was the filling of their sandwich. I could see about 15 feet through the blowing snow. I was whiteknuckling it and mighty glad to get out of that box alive. Give me Black Bear...or the Kyber Pass anytime.

But not Bolivia's infamous Death Road...the North Yungas Road...which at one time averaged 200-300 deaths per year. I have seen it, but was not crazy enough to drive it. Many adventurer drivers & bikers still try it and never come back.

[Edited on 10-23-2009 by Pompano]

Hi Mike..yup, we sure did soak at Ouray. One of the most scenic hot springs in creation. A little old, but clean and in 'relatively' good condition. ( like a few of us) My co-pilot brought up the fact that I had mistaken the ladies dressing room next to the pool for the men's room. I told her that was no mistake.

Also soaked in Durango at Trimble Hot Springs and got a super-great massage. Wish it was not so far from Coyote.

Motorcycles! Your 4 corners ride. I flew the Ouray-Silverton highway on my Vulcan back in the day, too. Finest kind.

My late great Coyote neighbor, Jake, did the 4 Corners five times on his BMW. He would rocket and not stop for hours! As he whizzed by me in North Dakota coming from Maine wide-open for Seattle, I'd slingshot a jelly bean into his mouth for a snack. Had to lead him about 100 feet...