Million Dollar Highway - Ouray to Silverton, Colorado

[ABOM420]

I don't see one cop

[PeterSilseth]

Beautiful footage. I miss my Colorado, my Land Cruiser and the San Juans.  Thanks for the video.

[jamb15767]

WORLD'S MOST BEAUTIFUL motorcycle rides includes US 550, especially southbound from Ouray, CO. Why southbound? There're NO GUARDRAILS on your right southbound [they get in the way of snowplowing], where the 1000+ foot dropoffs are. Nicknamed the MILLION DOLLAR HIGHWAY [or SAN JUAN SKYWAY] 'cause people've realized there's probably a Million Dollars' worth of gold and silver ore in the road's foundation. Kansasans should NOT ride or drive this road...and please let me and my Ducati get past you.

[mobrownable78]

wouldve held my breath the whole time :I

[evansakidrums]

Should put some music over this video. I drove this route from Grand Junction to Durango where my aunt lives. It's actually pretty scary when you're from out of state like I am (I live in Oregon) because of the high cliffs. But it is a GORGEOUS drive despite the very dangerous conditions at times.

[stargazer93]

This would make a great Need for Speed track.

[TOTALLYCOOLBELIKEME3]

darn leaving colorado=(

[unknowabletao]

how fast were you going?

[JeepsterGal]

@unknowabletao haha, normal speed, this was sped up so I could get the entire trip in under You Tube's time limit.

[1JUSTPASSINGTHROUGH]

helmet cam?

[JeepsterGal]

@1JUSTPASSINGTHROUGH Nope, a suction cupped mounted tripod head on the roof!

[TireSmoker22]

i'd love to drift here...

[coloradovid]

it's called the Million Dollar Hwy. because when it was built it took a million dollars per mile

[leloodallasmultipass]

@coloradovid not per mile- it was a million for the twelve mile stretch below ouray. a million per mile back in the twenties would have been unthinkable.

[021043]

45-minute trip??? It took me three hours!! I had to stop to admire the scenery every mile or so. Wonderful drive. dp

[barenmoose]

The engineers used mine slag fromt he many silver and gold mines to make this road, they figure that their is a t least a million in silver and gold from the slag in the roads construction. Love driving this road with passagers who are afraid of heights, I get called a SOB everytime

[roberv38REC]

Parece a Serra das Russas, vindo de Gravatá.

[gigidv2]

In our young lives, we only knew greater fear when we went to Disneyland and dared to take those rides where we had to stretch our spines to their fullest extensions to measure tall enough. There was even some ride that went through a mine and instantly co-opted the resident fear born of drives on the million dollar highway

[gigidv2]

My brother and I sat in the back seat, white knuckles clutching our Christmas toys, straining to see the next turn over our parents shoulders. We rarely dared to glance at the side of the road where the panorama passed in a painfully slow fashion with the car seeming to swing out toward the road edge of the sharpest turns. .

[gigidv2]

My memories of this drive go back to the 50s. My brother and I recall being terrified in the summer when my parents would drive this road to take us on trips around our home in Montrose. In the winter, we were pretty much convinced our dad was a raving lunatic to even think of driving the million dollar highway. The snow would pile up in enormous banks that partly took up half of the inside lane, forcing drivers to back up to a wide spot when they met oncoming cars.

[cavfan7]

why is it called "The Million Dollar Highway"

[JeepsterGal]

Supposedly because of the millions and millions of dollars that were discovered in silver in the region. Some people say because it cost a million dollars to create the road...

[JeepsterGal]

Also some call it that because the views are worth a million bucks!

[jnnelson79]

I was told that it is called The Million Dollar Highway becuase they used 1 Million Dollars worth of Dynamite to blast the shelf road out of the side of the mountain.

[jengel0211]

@cavfan7 It cost 1 million dollars per mile to build it in 1949

[Heavymetal350Z]

ive driven the pass from Durango to Silverton and that was a scary drive,(i was the driver) and ive heard this is more nerve racking because there doesnt seem to be any shoulder barriers. my respects to those who drive this highway a lot.

[hdiylove7]

Awesome road! Have driven this route a lot! Thanks for posting this.

[nuttycrip]

cool. i am driving this route and now i know what to expect! not for my preg wife who tends to get car sick

[user208351]

JeepsterGal when I get moved out to Ouray (say Uray folks) we need to be friends and have coffee. You rock on ALL your videos. True Grit still a fav. :P

On list for a place come August so if I go long winter not knowing any one but a few in Durango and a trooper in Montrose. No way I am going five five oh in winter.

[JeepsterGal]

I live about 5.5 hours from Ouray, sadly. I want to move here myself! Thanks for watching my vids! I'm glad you enjoy them! Hope you get a place there! That's awesome!

[sleighbells1]

Jeepster Gal- danke schoen for the video. I adore that country, planning on going again this summer to raft the Animas. How fast were you driving on the MDH while you were filming?

[JeepsterGal]

Well, I've driven it enough times to consider myself very comfortable on it...but for filming purposes I kept it at 20 mph. You really don't want to take it much faster than that anyway...for the most part the road doesn't allow you to go faster than that...too many curves with super steep dropoffs. There's a straight away in the middle where you can get up to 55 mph, but not for long. The road is 28 miles long, I think, and I would say all but 6 miles you need to drive under 25 mph.

[Phil81435]

Cool video. I live here and I enjoyed watching this.

[JeepsterGal]

I"m officially jealous of you :) Thanks for watching.

[bkyoung1999]

JeepsterGal, This video needs a sound track, maybe John Denver's Rocky Mtn High?

[JeepsterGal]

Thanks, I agree, but 7 of my videos have been pulled in one week due to copyright infringement with music. They are ruining You Tube with this issue :-(

[Pokeyaraya]

I'll make some music for you, gimme a week and send it on over

[JunkyardGlory]

Great video. I was amazed at the hairy roads going down into Silverton that had no guard rails! Completely fell in love with the town though. Gorgeous in the summer time.

[braneden]

wow this drive is great. Im from Iowa and I love to come out and take that drive. Did you know a bit of the movie "Over The Top." at the opening of the movie was shot on this road.around the time frame of 5:30. Try searching it on youtube.!!

[braneden]

its under "ottp1" on youtube

[JeepsterGal]

Wow, thanks, I had no idea, I just watched it...recognized every shot and also the downtown Ouray scenes...very cool, thanks for telling me.

[loudfatbaritone]

I've been over this road many times. It's just hard to believe that there's anything wrong with the world when you're in these mountains.

[JeepsterGal]

That's a very nice way of putting in and so true. Sort of a mountain vortex over there. You get sucked in and don't care what's going on in the outside world :)

[cisco505]

we did that one twice it took awhile

[AMaycock1]

Drove this in a hired Dodge in October 87.

Great to 'live'it again in my Liverpool, UK, study

[sassy304]

The road is a bit scary in places ,but I love it.So beautiful!

[olmose]

My favorite drive in the entire Rockies!! Colorado tourism should be paying you for your videos. Thank you ma'm, so much!!

[JeepsterGal]

If I could get paid to make promotional videos for the state of Colorado I would quit my day job in a second. Thanks for your kind words and for watching!

[bethfl]

Used to live in Silverton over twenty years ago and drove Red Mountain Pass many a time. I'd love to see the same drive in winter...that would be spectacular. Great video!

[really2ugly]

I love the Million Dollar Highway run, and the San Juans around Ouray and Silverton. My Dad used to say that The Million Dollar Highway was laid out by a drunk snake. You should do Black Bear Road (carefully, please). The other videos of Black Bear just don't have JeepsterGal's touch. I've only been on Black Bear once - on a dirt bike about 30 years ago. I decided that I would never take a jeep on it, although I think they have improved it snce then.

[JeepsterGal]

Thanks for the comment. I want to go on Black Bear but haven't yet. Would prefer going with someone who's done it before :) Headed to the San Juans in FIVE days! I can't wait!

[mwadevilg]

I went this same route on my vacation in July(2007). Thanks for the memories.

[karlniachip]

I just traveled from Ouray to Silverton a few days ago. Thank you so much for the memories. Great job with this video.

[BONNIEJDAVIS]

I LOVE it there. So beautiful.

[uncleben03]

7:43 is where me and a buddy decided to drive the tight steep switchbacks up to a closed mine. all it was was the old opening to the mine with a huge steel door with a little peephole. Kinda scary trail at 11pm.

[uncleben03]

4:13 is where a sheriff in a Tahoe flashed his lights and waved at me because he thought I was a cop too.

6:20 is where I have a picture of my ZJ flexing out at the bottom of black bear, where me and a friend were the first guys to go up it from the us550 side that summer. We followed the bulldozer that was plowing snow up the pass :D had to turn around at the top though, the other side was still snowed in.

[uncleben03]

Awesome video!! i havent been out there in awhile, but me and some friends took a camping/4wheeling trip in the summer of 03. Here's my time line:

2:06- start of Engineer Pass, me and the boys' favorite trail of the week.

3:42 is where me and a buddy were in my jeep, headed the opposite direction and tagged a deer who skidded down the road then got up and ran away.