MotoRevRoute Twisty Staff Pick
Million Dollar Highway
Ouray to Durango
- Distance
- 71 mi
- Riding Time
- 1h 58m
- Climb
- 6,184 ft
- Difficulty
- Hard
- Surface
- Paved
- Character
- Twisty
- Saves
- 0
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Road Guide
- Best Season
- June to September gives the best chance of dry pavement over the three passes. Snow is possible at the top in any month outside midsummer.
- Closures
- The road is kept open in winter, but storms and avalanche control close Red Mountain Pass for hours or days at a time.
- Fuel
- Fuel in Ouray, Silverton and Durango. There is little in between, so leave Ouray or Durango with a full tank.
- Watch For
- Long stretches south of Ouray have no guardrail and no shoulder above steep drops. Watch for rockfall, wet shaded corners, slow RVs and summer afternoon storms with hail and lightning above treeline.
Weather Along the Route
Forecast at the hour you reach each point, from the riding time. Leave Departure empty to leave now. Forecast from Open-Meteo.
US 550 climbs out of Ouray through the Uncompahgre Gorge and over Red Mountain Pass to Silverton, the stretch known as the Million Dollar Highway, then carries on over Molas Pass and Coal Bank Pass to Durango. Long sections are cut into cliff faces with tight switchbacks, steep grades and big drops beside the road. It is the northern half of the San Juan Skyway.
Stops
- StartOuray
- FinishDurango
