The Million Dollar Highway and Its Deadly Curves
You're right along U.S. Route 550, and just north of here it becomes one of the most spectacular and terrifying stretches of pavement in America: the Million Dollar Highway. Now, the name comes from either the million dollars worth of gold ore in the roadbed fill, or the million bucks per mile it cost to build in the 1920s, or what it would cost you to get some folks to drive it in winter. Take your pick. They're all good stories.
This route follows the old wagon road between Durango and Ouray, climbing over Red Mountain Pass at nearly eleven thousand feet. When they paved it in the late twenties, engineers built it without guardrails on some of the most heart-stopping curves you'll ever white-knuckle your way around. Some say it was to save money. Others claim the snow plows would just tear them out anyway. Either way, you've got hundred-foot drops with nothing but skill and prayer between you and the canyon floor.
Back in the glory days of auto touring, this was the ultimate test of nerve and machinery. Motor courts in Durango and Silverton filled up with travelers preparing for the crossing. The Strater Hotel in Durango became famous for its pre-trip steak dinners, what some called a last meal before the mountain. Gas stations would check your brakes twice, and more than one attendant talked greenhorns out of attempting it in questionable weather.
Here's the thing about the Million Dollar Highway: it's never been tamed. When the interstate system came through in the fifties and sixties, planners took one look at this route and said no thanks. So while other historic highways got bypassed and forgotten, this one stayed exactly as it was, too expensive and too dangerous to improve, too spectacular to abandon.
It became the road that progress forgot, and that saved it. Today it's a National Scenic Byway, probably the only highway in America that warns you not to look at the scenery while you're driving it. Every curve, every rockslide scar, every white-knuckle switchback is just like it was when your grandparents drove it.
Keep heading north and you'll see what I mean. Just remember: second gear, eyes on the road, and save the view for the pull-offs.
| 01 | You're right along U.S. Route 550, and just north of here it becomes one of the most spectacular and terrifying stretches of pavement in America: the Million Dollar Highway. Now, the name comes from either the million dollars worth of gold ore in the roadbed fill, or the million bucks per mile it cost to build in the 1920s, or what it would cost you to get some folks to drive it in winter. Take your pick. They're all good stories. | 0:26 | |
| 02 | This route follows the old wagon road between Durango and Ouray, climbing over Red Mountain Pass at nearly eleven thousand feet. When they paved it in the late twenties, engineers built it without guardrails on some of the most heart-stopping curves you'll ever white-knuckle your way around. Some say it was to save money. Others claim the snow plows would just tear them out anyway. Either way, you've got hundred-foot drops with nothing but skill and prayer between you and the canyon floor. Back in the glory days of auto touring, this was the ultimate test of nerve and machinery. Motor courts in Durango and Silverton filled up with travelers preparing for the crossing. The Strater Hotel in Durango became famous for its pre-trip steak dinners, what some called a last meal before the mountain. Gas stations would check your brakes twice, and more than one attendant talked greenhorns out of attempting it in questionable weather. | 0:59 | |
| 03 | Here's the thing about the Million Dollar Highway: it's never been tamed. When the interstate system came through in the fifties and sixties, planners took one look at this route and said no thanks. So while other historic highways got bypassed and forgotten, this one stayed exactly as it was, too expensive and too dangerous to improve, too spectacular to abandon. It became the road that progress forgot, and that saved it. Today it's a National Scenic Byway, probably the only highway in America that warns you not to look at the scenery while you're driving it. Every curve, every rockslide scar, every white-knuckle switchback is just like it was when your grandparents drove it. Keep heading north and you'll see what I mean. Just remember: second gear, eyes on the road, and save the view for the pull-offs. | 0:54 |