The Million Dollar Highway is the most dramatic stretch of Colorado’s San Juan Skyway — a two-lane ribbon of asphalt that climbs over three mountain passes above 10,000 feet with no guardrails on some of the sharpest curves. This 3-day self-drive loop out of Durango threads through three former mining towns turned mountain outposts — Silverton, Ouray and Telluride — using real hotels, a real hot-springs pool and real small-town restaurants along the way.
Day 1Durango to Silverton on the Million Dollar Highway
Pick up a rental car in Durango, walk the historic downtown, then drive the first and gentlest stretch of the San Juan Skyway north to the old mining town of Silverton.
🚗 Rental Car: Durango-La Plata County Airport (DRO)
~15 minutes into downtown · rental from $55 USD / day
Pick up a rental car at Durango’s small regional airport, a short drive south of downtown — a 4WD or AWD vehicle is recommended for the mountain passes ahead.
Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Durango Airport · +1 970-259-0433 · www.enterprise.com
🚆 Durango Historic Downtown & Train Depot
~1.5 hours · free to walk
Main Avenue’s brick storefronts and the 1881 Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad depot, where the coal-fired steam train that still runs to Silverton each summer loads its passengers.
🚗 Drive: Durango to Silverton via US-550
~1.5 hours · ~50 miles, climbing over Coal Bank & Molas Passes
The opening leg of the San Juan Skyway, switchbacking up through spruce forest and over two 10,000-plus-foot passes before dropping into Silverton’s wide mountain valley.
🏨 Check-In: The Wyman Hotel
From $175 USD / night, for 2 people
A restored 1902 sandstone hotel on Silverton’s main street, built during the town’s silver-mining boom and still run as an adults-only historic inn.
Day 2Silverton Mining History & Red Mountain Pass to Ouray
A morning learning Silverton’s mining history, then the highway’s most famous and most exposed stretch — Red Mountain Pass — down into the hot-springs town of Ouray.
⛏️ San Juan County Historical Society Mining Heritage Center
~1.5 hours · entry ~$10 USD / adult
Silverton’s former county jail turned mining museum, with three floors of hard-rock mining equipment, ore samples and photographs from the San Juan Mountains’ silver boom.
🚗 Drive: Silverton to Ouray via Red Mountain Pass
~1 hour · ~23 miles, cresting at 11,018 feet
The Million Dollar Highway’s namesake stretch, cut into the cliffside above old mine tailings with hairpin turns and long drops — one of the most photographed drives in the Rockies.
♨️ Ouray Hot Springs Pool
~1.5 hours · day pass ~$20 USD / adult
A geothermal pool complex fed by natural hot springs at the base of Ouray’s box canyon, with soaking pools, lap lanes and a mountain-ringed view worth the entry fee alone.
🏨 Check-In: The Beaumont Hotel
From $290 USD / night, for 2 people
A restored 1887 Queen Anne hotel in the middle of Ouray’s small historic district, once the grandest address between Denver and Salt Lake City.
Day 3Ouray to Telluride & Back to Durango
A scenic detour off the Million Dollar Highway to Telluride for a free gondola ride and lunch, then the long drive back to Durango to close the loop.
🚗 Drive: Ouray to Telluride via Ridgway
~1 hour · ~50 miles via CO-62 & CO-145
A gentler valley drive west out of Ouray past Ridgway State Park, then south into Telluride’s dead-end box canyon beneath 13,000-foot peaks.
🚡 Telluride – Mountain Village Free Gondola
~1 hour round trip · free, year-round
A free 13-minute gondola ride climbing out of Telluride’s historic downtown to Mountain Village, with the San Juan Mountains opening up on all sides — no ski pass required.
🍽️ Lunch: Brown Dog Pizza, Telluride
~1 hour · lunch ~$18–$25 USD / person
A local favorite on Telluride’s main strip serving deep-dish and Sicilian-style pizza a block from the gondola station.
🚗 Drive & Rental Car Return: Telluride to Durango-La Plata County Airport (DRO)
~2.5 hours · ~125 miles via CO-145 & US-160
The return leg via Lizard Head Pass, Dolores and Mancos, completing the San Juan Skyway loop before dropping the rental car and departing from Durango.
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