San Juan Skyway (Ouray–Silverton–Telluride–Durango) Guide

The San Juan Skyway is a 233-mile loop through the wildest, most vertical mountains in Colorado, and its most famous stretch — US 550 between Ouray and Silverton, the “Million Dollar Highway” — is one of the great white-knuckle drives in America: a two-lane road carved into sheer cliffs, climbing over 11,000-foot Red Mountain Pass with hairpin turns, no shoulders, and no guardrails between you and a very long drop. Along the loop sit Ouray, a hot-springs town so hemmed by peaks they call it the “Switzerland of America”; Silverton, a high, raw old mining camp; and the mountains blaze gold with aspen every fall. It is the most scenic driving in the state, full stop.