The San Juan Skyway Scenic Byway (Part Two)

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Friday, October 27, 2023

Today was a do nothing sort of day. We slept in until a little after 8 o'clock and then spent a couple of hours sitting outside enjoying the quietness of the place we are parked in, the sunshine, and our morning coffee. Well quiet except for what sounded like planes circling overhead behind us several times. We would have had to actually get up and walk around the motorhome to see what they were but it just was not that important at the moment. It was that type of day. 

The sun setting on our day in the west, the moon in the east
and some color towards the northeast.
It was a quiet way to end our day. 

Wednesday, October 11, 2023

Ouray To Silverton (The Million Dollar Highway)

The Bearfoot Theory Blog describes The Million Dollar Highway as the iconic section of the San Juan Skyway between Silverton and Ouray. The nail-biting road winds around hairpin turns on the side of a cliff for 23 miles between the two adorable mountain towns of Ouray, Colorado and Silverton, Colorado.

The brochure I picked up describes it as one of the most scenic and spectacular mountain drives in North America. The famous section of the Skyway winds through the iron-colored Red Mountains, along the sheer side of the Uncompahgre Gorge, through tunnels and past cascading waterfalls. 

This sections deserves its own day to make stops and side trips but for this time we just did the drive on US-550. The scenery was breathtaking and the gold of the aspens added a lot to the beauty. 

This sign indicated road work ahead. There was another that 
told us to expect a delay of up to 30 minutes.

We went by several of these used for road closures today.

We were stopped here for about 20 minutes. While we
were waiting we did see a small amount of snow coming
 down but not enough to even accumulate.

Looking at the road ahead

we could see some work being down up above the road.
If you look closely you can see the line of rope they used
to get up there.

We did see some snow along the side of the road

and on the mountain tops.

What we never saw was any sign of construction on the road.

After this section of our ride we arrived in Silverton, elevation 9318 feet. The town of Silverton was founded in 1874 and is a National Historic Landmark. According to the brochure they once claimed 40 gambling halls, saloons, and "sporting houses". The town's elaborate Victorian architecture reflects the millions of dollars in gold and silver that was mined here during the late 1800's. 

Upper left picture looked like it was someone's residence.

Leaving Silverton and continuing to Durango

You can take a ride on the famous Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad between Durango and Silverton. It is an all day excursion starting in Durango ending in Silverton where you have time to browse the shops and have lunch them return to Durango. There are several different packages and if you have the time I think it would be a fun adventure.

Silverton to Durango

There is a USA Flag at the top.

My one cloud specific picture.

We did stop here for a few minutes.
Not sure I inserted it in the correct spot on the ride but it
was in this section of the ride.

Somewhere between Silverton and Durango
the sun dropped behind the mountains.

Durango, elevation 6529 feet, which is nestled in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in the Animas River Valley.  Animas River runs through downtown and boasts gold medal fly fishing waters, and is popular for whitewater rafting, kayaking and canoeing. I did see some kayakers on the river as we drove over a bridge leaving town.

Durango to Cortez

We are now on US-160 and on the last stretch of this byway. We are headed home.

Along this stretch we did take the time to drive into Mancos.

Mancos is the home of the famous Wetherill family who discovered the Mesa Verde Cliff Dwellings. Mancos they say is where the west still lives, at least that is what the two short articles I read said. 

The Mesa Verde National Park is just six miles from here and nine miles from where we are staying and we visited the park the next day after this ride. That will be the next blog and more pictures.

It was a long day but well worth the time it took. Like I said along the way this ride deserved at least two days and probably even more for exploring. But just riding the 236 miles without many stops brought us through such beautiful scenery we are glad we had the time to do this.

We are glad you stopped by!

If you have time to leave a comment we would enjoy hearing from you.