The Million Dollar Highway

Above the Clouds: Sunrise from the Mt. Sherman Trail - August 2023

Between the towns of Ouray and Silverton in southwest Colorado is a portion of Highway 550 known as the “Million Dollar Highway.” You might guess that it gets the name from the stunning vistas of verdant valleys rising to 13,000-foot peaks, including scarlet iron-ore slopes of Red Mountain, and perhaps you’d be right. There are a number of possible explanations for the name Million Dollar Highway, and my curiosity was piqued after a recent trip over the highway.

Last Saturday I drove my daughter and a friend of hers to Molas Pass, just south of Silverton, so that the two of them could rendezvous with friends on the Colorado Trail. That group of three had been on the trail about a month since starting in Denver. We were to meet up with them and from there the united group of five would finish by hiking the rest of the trail into Durango together, about 75 miles as the boots hike from Molas Pass. 

Along Highway 550 I was stealing glimpses of scenery that was literally breathtaking. The lookout point just outside of Ouray is called “The Switzerland of America” for good reason. Once we got to the Million Dollar section south of Ouray though, I was oblivious to the views. There is virtually no shoulder, the road curves around what looked to my height-frightened eye to be 10,000-foot drop-offs, and, contributing to my nausea, there are no guardrails. 

No guardrails? This makes it easier for snowplows to push the snow off the road. 
Snow? Ice? And they keep it open? Yep. The road is open year-round, but drivers are strongly urged to check weather conditions before driving the highway. Good idea. If I spied a snowflake within ten miles of that road, I wouldn’t drive that highway for a million dollars! And that is precisely another theory as to how the road got its name.

Other possible explanations for the name Million Dollar Highway have to do with the rumored cost of $1 million in gold and silver to build it and the expensive tolls that were charged - $5 per wagon or the equivalent of $150 today. Originally conceived and constructed by Civil War Veteran Otto Mears in the late 1800’s, the idea was to connect remote mining towns in the area. Wanting a more direct route to transport goods, in 1882 Mears purchased a controlling interest in a toll road company and the road was completed in 1883. The pricey charge to use the route cost Mears the road; in 1887 the state of Colorado took ownership of the Million Dollar Highway as a result of complaints from miners and merchants unhappy with the high tolls.

When we reached Silverton I was feeling relieved and a bit accomplished: we hadn’t died. We drove up to the Molas Pass overlook in hopes of intersecting with our intrepid hikers. They were not there. We took a spin through the Molas Lake Campground - no dice. We drove up and down Molas Pass, trying to find that sweet spot of internet connection long enough to communicate. In a last-ditch effort we were headed down to the Silverton Visitor’s Center when a text squeaked through that the Three Musketeers were indeed at the Molas Lake Campground - apparently we’d missed them when we drove through earlier. We high-tailed it there to find them googly-eyed over the food in the tiny campground store. 

When the last of the three made it out of the store with a happy grin and a hot burrito, everyone and their gear piled into my car. We looked like the Beverly Hillbillies. And smelled like the Beverly Hillbillies’ goats. The three that had been on the trail were ripe. So ripe in fact that we had to keep the windows completely rolled down as we headed back to Silverton to re-supply. 

After the shopping expedition it was back up to the campground. Once I’d dropped off the smelly, smiling and awesome crew, and given my daughter 83 hugs, kisses and “I love you’s,” I headed home. I was driving over the Million Dollar Highway one more time. 

Sources/Learn More
Ouray Film Festival article on The Million Dollar Highway
Action Tour Guide: History of the Million Dollar Highway