A Great Southwest Road Trip: San Juan Skyway, Colorado

By Susan on May 13, 2004 10:47 AM | Click here to post a comment

The words holy flipping crap, or some close approximation, flew out of my mouth along every curve of the San Juan Skyway, a long detour on our trip between Pagosa Springs and our next destination. The extreme high country, accessable by excellent paved roads, is a rugged, snow-capped theme park ride of alpine delights. From gorgeous alpine meadows to swiss-style chalet towns to 10,500 foot passes still covered in snow, I can't imagine another road that can match highways 550, 62, and 145 in Southern Colorado.


We stopped so many times we alienated our rental car. We ogled and ogled and ogled and Mother occasionally closed her eyes in the narrow, high canyons without guardrails. We swirled through switchbacks:

And by the time it was over, I had snapped so many pictures, I could barely decide which ones to put up in this log:

But of course I could have put up these instead:

Or these:


You get the idea.

We found Ouray, a tiny town on the north end of the Hwy 550 portion of the Skyway, and took a short hike into Box Canyon falls. The falls were roaring into a narrow canyon, and thanks to the City of Ouray we were able walk right up to it on a catwalk and feel the mist hit us full in the face.

We snapped pictures of little Ouray, set against snowcapped peaks and surrounded by lush meadows, with another waterfall dropping down behind it:

Even the architecture is mostly Swiss. And somehow it doesn't seem cheesy. If you're going to dress up like Switzerland, you need the scenery to back it up. And they have it.

Around the other side of the mountains, on the southward portion of the Skyway (turn south at Ridgeway), we jaunted over to Telluride. Lovely ski town. Kids were just getting out of school, many of them making their way to luxury homes on the other side of this park:

There's a nice bike lane in town that runs for miles down the valley. I can only imagine Telluride in winter, however--I think it might become a bit unmanageable, as a world-class resort. But in spring it's delightful:

Mother chickened out of the dirt road to Bridal Veil Falls, one of the highest waterfalls in the country, but I managed to sneak this shot from the mining company parking lot at the end of town:

And finally, one more rear-view-mirror shot--this time of the 10,500-foot toilet at Lizard Head Pass. If you value your location as much as your reading material, this here's your crapper:

They don't get up to service it much, though, so watch out for unusual wildlife.

After a full day of touring the Skyway, we barely made it to our next destination before dark. I'm writing this from our hotel room there now, with no internet, television or telephones. Stay tuned for the next installment to find out where it is, and why I wanted to strangle a pleasant man in a lime green cowboy hat.

Extra tip: if you can only drive one side of the San Juan Skyway loop, do the Ridgeway - Silverton - Durango side. It's more spectacular  and the towns are more interesting. But both sides have jaw-dropping views. When it's sunny

Table of Contents for A Great Southwest Road Trip:

Part 1: Albuquerque and Carlsbad
Part 2: Santa Fe
Part 3: Taos
Part 4: Pagosa Springs, Colorado
Part 5: San Juan Skyway, Colorado
Part 6: Mesa Verde
Part 7: Durango & Silverton Railroad
Part 8: Navajoland and Canyon de Chelly
Part 9: Zuni Pueblo, El Morro & El Malpais
Part 10: Wrap Up of the Great Southwest

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Welcome to Northern Word, the online home of writer Susan McNerney. Northern Word features lots of photography, words on the business and process of writing, original bits of fiction and nonfiction, travelogues and travel writing, and anything else that Susan feels like posting. Browse the categories on the left (or the topic cloud below) to see previous episodes, and don't miss the two big travelogues: A Week in Rome and A Great Southwest Road Trip. Susan is originally from the redwood regions of Northern California, but now lives and writes in chilly Minnesota.

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This page contains a single entry by Susan published on May 13, 2004 10:47 AM.

A Great Southwest Road Trip: Pagosa Springs, CO was the previous entry in this blog.

A Great Southwest Road Trip: Mesa Verde is the next entry in this blog.

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