Some road-trip days are about where you’re going. Today was about everything we saw on the way.
We left Ouray early this morning and headed south on US-550, straight onto the Million Dollar Highway. We’d been looking forward to this drive for a while, and within the first few minutes, it was easy to see why.
The road climbs quickly out of Ouray, with the mountains rising around you and huge views opening up almost immediately. There are sections where the road hugs the side of the mountain and you become very aware of just how high you are.
We took it slow.
Partly because that is the sensible thing to do on this road. Mostly because we wanted to stop everywhere.
Every few miles seemed to bring another view worth pulling over for. Mountains covered in shades of gold and orange. Deep valleys disappearing below us. Old mining country. Peaks stacked behind one another as far as we could see.
The fall colors made the whole drive even better.
We stopped around the Red Mountain area and continued up toward Red Mountain Pass at 11,018 feet. Up there, the landscape feels completely different. The trees thin out, the mountains become more rugged, and the colors of the rock start living up to the name.
Then came the descent into Silverton.
Seeing this little town sitting in the valley with mountains surrounding it from every direction was one of those classic Colorado views we had been waiting for.
We spent some time in Silverton, walked around and soaked in the old mining-town feel. There was no pressure to see everything because we knew we would be back again the next day for our Durango and Silverton train journey.
Since we had left Ouray early and were well ahead of schedule, we decided to keep moving toward Durango and have lunch there instead.
That turned out to be a great decision because the drive south from Silverton deserved just as much time as the Million Dollar Highway.
Our first big stop was Molas Pass.
At 10,910 feet, the views were massive. Mountains in every direction, forests stretching across the valleys and patches of fall color everywhere. We stayed for a while, took photos and did what we had been doing all morning: looked around and wondered where to point the camera next.
We also stopped at Andrews Lake.
This was one of those quieter stops that catches you by surprise. A mountain lake surrounded by trees and peaks, with the fall colors adding another layer to the scene. After all the dramatic cliffs and passes earlier in the morning, it felt peaceful.
Then came Coal Bank Pass at 10,640 feet.
Another stop. More photos. Another excuse to stand outside for a few minutes and take in the San Juan Mountains.
By this point, we had completely given up pretending we were following a schedule.
And that was probably the best way to experience this road.
We stopped wherever we safely could. Sometimes for a proper viewpoint, sometimes because the colors looked too good to drive past. A journey that could have been completed in roughly two hours became most of our morning.
Eventually the high mountain scenery began to soften as we descended toward Durango. The road dropped through forests, the temperature changed and the landscape slowly shifted again.
We reached Durango earlier than expected and headed straight for lunch.
After a morning of mountain passes and constant photo stops, sitting down for a good meal felt perfect. We took our time, then headed over to the hotel and checked in.
And for once, there was no need to unpack knowing we would be loading everything back into the car the next morning.
Two nights in Durango.
That alone felt like a small vacation within the vacation.
Looking back at today, Silverton was beautiful and Durango was a welcome place to arrive. Yet the part I’ll remember most happened between those places.
We covered only about 70 miles today.
It took us hours!
Exactly as it should have!
Tomorrow, we get to see these mountains from a completely different perspective.
🚂 Durango & Silverton steam train day!
