Ouray/Telluride, CO – This 21 mile scenic route travels through the mountains, forest, and ranchland between Telluride and Ridgway, Colorado. Considered an easy backroad 4WD route, it is rutted, gravel, rocky, and washboarded. Last Dollar Road is suitable for high-clearance, two-wheel-drive vehicles when dry. Sections of the road bed are clay and become quite slick when wet and can be impassable even for 4-wheel-drive vehicles. We traveled this as a return route to Ouray after traveling to Telluride via the Ophir Pass 4WD Route. Plan for at least 2 hours in order to have time to soak in the scenery. We use Charles A. Wells and Matt Peterson’s “Guide to Colorado Backroads & 4-Wheel -Drive Trails” to find routes and their trip descriptions with valuable waypoint information.
Last Dollar Road near Telluride
This route leaves from Telluride off of Highway 145, follow signs for the Telluride Airport. Heading out of Telluride it will be a right turn just before the major T intersection. Last Dollar Road is marked with a brown National Forest Access sign. Stay right at the junction for the airport. The route heads past houses for several miles before entering aspen forest.
The route travels through scenic aspen groves
After entering the first aspen forest, the route travels in and out of forest and open expanses. There are several sections of broad talus slope as Last Dollar Road climbs Last Dollar Mountain. The San Miguel Mountains can be viewed to the south as the route travels to its highpoint at 10,600 feet. There are several hiking trailheads along Last Dollar Road including: Deep Creek, Whipple Mountain, and Alder Creek,
Aspen
Talus section of the route
View of the San Miguel Mountains near Telluride
Another view
From Last Dollar Road’s highpoint
We traveled Last Dollar Road in mid-June when the wildflowers were just getting started, including large areas of lupine. In the fall this is a great route to view fall colors. After reaching the highpoint, Last Dollar Road descends through scenic ranches. The route becomes 58P which eventually reaches Highway 62, where a right turn will lead back to Ridgway in about 12 miles. To return to Ouray, turn right onto Highway 550 in Ridgway.
Ranches dominate the northern section
Along Last Dollar Road
During this trip to Ouray we also traveled on Porphyry Gulch, Ophir Pass Road, Alta Lakes Road, Corkscrew/Hurricane Pass/California Gulch, and Placer & Picayune Gulches. We hiked the Ouray Perimeter Loop, Wetterhorn Basin Trail in the Uncompahgre Wilderness, Blue Lakes Trail in Mount Sneffels Wilderness, a section of the Colorado Trail/Continental Divide Trail at Stony Pass, and the Highland Mary Lakes Loop in the Weminuche Wilderness. We stayed at the Ouray KOA but there are some other RV camping options in the region. During earlier trips we have driven Engineer, Cinnamon, and Imogene Passes.
