Start Location: Cortez, CO
Ending Location: Fruita, CO
Miles Today: 228
Trip Miles: 1905
States Visited: 5
National Parks Visited: 3
National Monuments Visited: 1
Low temp: 61.0° F
High Temp: 95.7° F
Min Elevation: 4478'
Max Elevation: 11101'
Route Map:
Utah Parks 2026 Day08
We are staying in a LaQuinta tonight and had a nice dinner at a local
pizza shop an easy walk from our hotel.
It was warm when we left Cortez and remained pleasant most of the day.
Our plan was to ride the Million
Dollar Highway
which covers 25 miles from Silverton, CO to Ouray, CO. We had read and
heard stories of the highway so we had to do it. It was supposed to be
a scary ride because at numerous points the road rose vertically on one
side of the road and dropped off precipitously on the other side. In
some places the road fell off right at the edge of the blacktop (no
shouder at all). After completing the ride, I would say it was not much
different than the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park. There
were 3 mountain passes - two that went to 10,000+ feet and the Red
Mountain pass at 11,000+ feet. We were also a little concerned about
the possibility of bad weather. Fortunately the weather was not as cold
as it frequently is going over Snoqualamie Pass in Washington and that
one is only about 3,000 feet. It had many tight switchbacks and hairpin
turns but all in all was easy to navigate and a fun ride. We made a good decision.
Although the pictures are all titled Route 550-xx, almost all of them are of the 25 mile stretch from Silverton to Ouray.
Ouray appears to
be a very popular tourist town. There were people everywhere. They also
had a really nice park where we stopped for lunch.
The last hour or so of the route got very hot and we had to stop and
take some clothes off before we cooked.
We are staying in Fruita, CO tonight and working out a plan for
tomorrow.
