Travel from Mesa Verde to Silverton to Ouray
Route included the famous Million Dollar Highway
The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge railroad comes into Silverton. It’s a coal-fired, steampowered locomotive on the same tracks miners, cowboys and settlers of the Old West took over a century ago. The train has been in continuous operation since 1882.
A short stretch of Highway 550 is a special highway built in the late 1880's It's one of the nation’s most spectacular drives. The highway delivers jaw-dropping vista after vista. It was cut from the side of the mountain and became know as the "Million Dollar Highway."
It's one of the most scenic drives in the USA. The Million Dollar Highway 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.
Between Durango and Silverton the Skyway loosely parallels the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. The road climbs up to 3 very high mountain passes. Coal Bank Pass (10,640 ft /3,240 m); Molas Pass (10,970 ft /3,340 m) and Red Mountain Pass (11,018 ft).
Though the entire stretch has been called the Million Dollar Highway, it is really the twelve miles 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; 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.
Silverton - Silverton is a former silver mining camp, most or all of which is now included in a federally designated National Historic Landmark District. Silverton is linked to Durango by the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, a National Historic Landmark. Silverton no longer has active mining, but subsists by tourism.
