Driving the Million Dollar Highway in our RV

Ouray, CO – The Million Dollar Highway stretches for about 25 miles in western Colorado and follows the route of US 550 between Silverton and Ouray, Colorado. Offering breathtaking mountain, valley and gorge views, this stretch of two-lane blacktop snakes its way through the San Juan Mountains, the wildest and most rugged peaks in the Rockies. It boasts some of North America’s highest avalanche hazard (per mile) and is part of the San Juan Skyway. The entire route delivers jaw-dropping vista after vista. The first time you drive it, it’s a real breath taker. Lots of sweaty palms. There are sheer drops virtually along the entire route and enough hairpins to make a whirling dervish dizzy.

We drove from Durango to Ouray Colorado.

Our RV on the Million Dollar Highway

Mike drove our 35’ RV (2020 Newmar New Aire) on U.S. Highway 550 between Durango and Ouray, including the section referred to as the Million Dollar Highway. This drive climbs up 3 high mountain passes: Coal Bank Pass (10,640 ft), Molas Pass (10,970 ft), and Red Mountain Pass (11,018 ft). The stretch between Silverton and Ouray, the section of this highway considered most difficult, is only 25 miles in length but takes about 45 minutes.

The Million Dollar Highway is a very scenic route

Mike says the drive went “surprisingly well”. He had previously driven the route in a car several times, but was concerned about how well our RV’s exhaust brake would hold back the RV (so that he would not need to overuse the service brakes) following our experience on Cape Breton National Park’s Cabot Trail’s with its 13% grades in our prior 2019 New Aire. Since we were unsure how the new RV would do, we opted to drive the route without towing our Jeep, but rather having me follow in the Jeep behind the RV. The grades on the Million Dollar Highway were manageable with our 2020 New Aire’s larger engine and better exhaust brake. He felt the lanes were wide enough to easily stay within them on the hairpin corners. Mike has been driving class A motorhomes since 2012 and felt past experiences helped him with this drive. This is a very drive-able route for experienced RV drivers.

Along the route

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 and reputation. 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. Travel north from Silverton to Ouray allows drivers to hug the inside of curves; travel south from Ouray to Silverton perches drivers on the vertiginous outside edge of the highway. The route is full of scenic views, but let the passenger look as you’ll want to watch the road. There are a number of turns that you’ll take at 10 mph. The road is fine as long as you don’t drive too fast for conditions. But if you do, the consequences are severe.

Just before the descent into Silverton

There are many tight corners on the route

The origin of the name Million Dollar Highway is disputed. There are several legends, though, including that it cost a million dollars a mile to build it, and that its fill dirt contains a million dollars in gold ore. The road was incredibly engineered by Russian immigrant Otto Mears, indomitable road and railroad builder of the early west, and was first operated as a toll road. Originally hand-carved in the 1880s, the route was constructed to transport ore from Silverton to the railroad in Ouray. In the early 1920s, the original toll road was rebuilt at considerable cost and became the present day US 550. The Million Dollar Highway was completed in 1924.

There are many sections without guardrails

We pulled over to let cars around several times

Beautiful vistas abound

The weather on this zone is harsh and highly unpredictable and it does not take much time for bright sunshine to change over to moderate to heavy snow fall. The road is kept open year-round. Summer temperatures can range from 70–90 °F highs at the ends of the highway to 50–70 °F in the mountain passes. The snow season starts in October, and snow will often close the road (temporarily) in winter. There are more than 100 named avalanche paths that intersect Highway 550 in the Red Mountain Pass area alone. Chains may be required to drive.