Fall view looking across a ranch towards the San Juan Mountains

Mike and I had been trying hard to make a trip down to the San Juan Mountain Range to catch the fall foliage at its peak, but we barely made it! Lucky for us we had a beautiful bluebird Colorado day and were able to travel over some of our favorite Colorado drives, including the San Juan Skyway and the Million Dollar Highway.

Molas Lake off of Highway 550 in the San Juan Mountains

The fall leaves on the aspen and cottonwood trees were incredible, although we could tell we were catching the tail end of this season by how many leaves had already dropped. We made our home base near Durango on a late Friday evening, with just barely enough light to see the beauty of Wolf Creek Pass. We started early the next morning with snacks, water, dog toys, loads of Nikon camera gear, GoPro gear, and Manfrotto tripods, and started our journey on the San Juan Skyway (Highway 550).

The Aspens are just off Highway 550 in the San Juan Mountains

The first of our scenic drives was over Coal Bank Pass. This Mountain pass reaches its summit at 10,640 feet and is filled with valley views, sheer cliffs, and sharp corners but is paved and has a lot of areas to pull off to the side to take some photographs.

Old Mines along the Million Dollar Highway

Next up was a drive over Molas Pass where the summit at 10,899 feet is one of our favorite places for a break. It can be crowded because the views are specular, so we tend to venture off on some dirt roads around the summit. This time we went down to the lake, which had the most beautiful reflection of the San Juan Mountains and evergreens. We had the place to ourselves. Summit the puppy got to run around, we really could have relaxed there for hours.

The view from Main Street in downtown Silverton Colorado

Silverton was just around the corner, we couldn’t wait to get there. The phrase “just around the corner” to Mike is very different from my interpretation of “around the corner”.  For me, it’s grasping onto the Jeep handlebars staring down two thousand-foot drops on a narrow road with no guardrails. Once in Silverton, we were able to relax and enjoy the town, and enjoy the beauty from the neighborhoods above looking down. Beautiful architecture with an abundance of colorful leaves. 

The view of downtown Silverton Colorado

I could have walked around Silverton and explored backcountry roads all day but we were on a fall road trip roll, up next was another favorite town of mine, Ouray, also known as the American Alps and the Little Switzerland of America. Red Mountain Pass is no joke, while paved, it is gorgeous but filled with hairpin turns and not many guardrails. It’s worth it in every way, being the highlight of the Million Dollar Highway reaching an elevation of 11,018 feet. At this point, we were on one of the best Colorado fall drives, on one of the most scenic highways, and we couldn’t have been happier.

Moving along the San Juan Skyway we kept it mellow on our way to Telluride, taking the Dallas Divide over to Last Dollar Road. I am so glad we took that road! Mike got some amazing GoPro footage with the aspen leaves falling all around us and we were surrounded by every fall color imaginable. We barely passed any other people and admired the beauty of the views around us. With Telluride off in the distance, it made us think of possibly living in this area of Colorado sometime.

The view just outside of Telluride Colorado

After a quick stroll around the town of Telluride, it was time to head back towards Durango. Exhaustion and hunger had set in, a car nap was in my future. Apparently, we went over Lizard Pass Head Pass during that time,  before I knew it we were almost back to home base and I was looking up some quick take-out food on my iPhone. Such a wonderful road trip, can’t wait for our next adventure hopefully next weekend! -Amy E Bauer