Riding the Million Dollar Highway

On this day, I was going to ride one of the roads that many people had said I should – the Million Dollar Highway.

I have now got quite used to meeting other bikers and talking to them and invariably, suggestions abound and ideas are exchanged about where to ride. I love this type of chat and occasionally a real gem of a suggestions comes my way. This one particular road, US Highway 552, had been suggested to me as much as any other road, so I was eagerly anticipating what it had to offer.

I had arranged to ride the first part of the road, from Durango to Silverton with my new friends, John and Diana and we took off riding north at 10 o’clock in the morning....

They lead the first part of the way, showing me a back-road that I didn’t know of, that lead to a bridge over a river that I had flagged in my gps / sat nav as maybe worthwhile seeing. This next picture is taken from Bakers Bridge over-looking the Animas River. For those of you who have seen the film “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” you might be interested to know it was here that the final scene showing the two outlaws jumping off a cliff was filmed. This is the cliff....

Of course in the actual film scene, the cliff was made to look much deeper!

John and Diana then lead to me Haviland Lake, where we saw a terrific reflection of the mountains behind....

As we rode further north, the scenery became more spectacular.... it is a shame photographs never seem to do mountains justice. Believe me, these were magnificent way beyond what these pictures show....

Soon we arrived at Silverton, a town of just 531 people (2000) and I am told it is so-called because during it mining peak, there was silver-by-the-ton. Today it mainly caters for the tourists (like me) that ride the Durango to Silverton steam train. We stopped to look down at the town from the highway....

Silverton was lovely when we were there on a warm sunny day. I can’t imagine what the town must be like in the winter with its 300+ inches of snow that falls each year. We had drinks in a bar and I bought a couple of t-shirts for my sons. At this point I said my farewells to John and Diana as they needed to get back to Durango - it was good riding with you!

The main part of the Million Dollar Highway is north from Silverton to Ouray, a distance of just 23 miles. I have heard two different reasons about why it has its name. It is either because it cost a million dollars a mile to build, or because the fill they used to make up the road has traces of gold and silver contained within it. Whichever is true, it is still a great name for a road.

The road itself is a terrific ride, but you need to have nerves of steel along some parts as there are steep drop-offs and no guard rails. In places the road hugs the side of a steep slope of a mountain and in others, it has great bends which are ideal for motorcycling. I made a video and that is near the end of this post, but first here are a few photos. There are not many pictures of the parts with steep drop-offs as generally these do not have a shoulder to stop on to take pictures. Here is what I did manage to take and some of these were shot on the move....

A nice sweeping bend....

You can see the road cut into the side of the mountain....

Mountain views, lovely bends and yellow Aspens trees moving into autumn. What a combination!....

I like this shot of the hairpin bend....

Another tight bend....

The changing colours of the trees make for a splendid background to the road....

In one spot that is obviously susceptible to avalanches, or falling rocks, a special tunnel has been constructed in order that the road can be kept open. This is taking inside that tunnel....

One of the parts of the road you need to pay particular attention on....

Just before arriving in Ouray, there is a place you can stop and overlook the town....

Main Street in Ouray, with its shops, bars and restaurants. I tried all three!....

Here is the video of riding the Million Dollar Highway.... I hope you enjoy the ride....



Another one of the great roads Colorado has to offer! It felt good to ride this road, so I turned around and rode it again – twice on the first day to make the video and twice again the next day to go back to take the photos!

When I checked in at the motel for the night I decided to wash the bike and I met a guy called Nick, a Patent Lawyer, from the next town, called Gerrards Cross, next to where I used to live on the west side of London. It can be a small world..... Nick wondered why I was cleaning my bike when it already looked so clean to him. I explained it was about as dirty as it has ever been and the Leading Ladies didn’t like it.....