South of Montrose between the towns of Ouray, Silverton, and
Durango is located one of the most popular areas of Colorado. US 550 in this stretch is called the
"Million Dollar Highway" and is both beautiful and a terror for many
RV drivers and passengers from the flatlands! This area is tourist-heavy for good reason because it has some of the
most scenic and most photographed mountains, passes, rivers, waterfalls, split
rail fences, jeep roads, and narrow-gauge trains anywhere in the U.S. This is especially true in the fall when the
aspen are changing on Mt. Sneffles, on Dallas Divide, and in Animas Canyon.
The "terror" of driving US 550 in an RV is due to a combination of factors. The least of these is a tunnel and an avalanche shed that the highway passes through just south of Ouray. The avalanche shed should have plenty of clearance for most RVs, but the tunnel has a clearance of only 13'9" and that is in its center The more significant "terror factor" on US 550, however, is the Uncompahgre Gorge's lack of guard rails along a cliff that drops several hundred feet to the river. Due to the narrow lanes and abundance of curves, northbound drivers tend to drift toward (over!) the center line to stay away from the sheer rock face on the east side of the highway. This leaves little room for a long, southbound RV trying to stay in his lane, but away from the edge of that sheer drop!
If in doubt on being able to negotiate the tunnel or you just want to avoid the gorge altogether with your RV (use your toad or tow vehicle to drive to Silverton), there is an alternative, very scenic route from Ridgway to Cortez and Durango. That is the CO 62-CO 145 route through Placerville and Telluride to Dolores that I use when towing my 5th wheel. And, just FYI, the Town of Telluride has a $15 big-rig/tour-bus friendly RV dump at their wastewater treatment plant. It is located in the public parking area at South Mahoney Drive and Pacific Avenue.
 |
| Mt. Sneffels and Wilson Peak in fall as seen from Dallas Divide on CO 62 west of Ridgway |
The "terror" of driving US 550 in an RV is due to a combination of factors. The least of these is a tunnel and an avalanche shed that the highway passes through just south of Ouray. The avalanche shed should have plenty of clearance for most RVs, but the tunnel has a clearance of only 13'9" and that is in its center The more significant "terror factor" on US 550, however, is the Uncompahgre Gorge's lack of guard rails along a cliff that drops several hundred feet to the river. Due to the narrow lanes and abundance of curves, northbound drivers tend to drift toward (over!) the center line to stay away from the sheer rock face on the east side of the highway. This leaves little room for a long, southbound RV trying to stay in his lane, but away from the edge of that sheer drop!
If in doubt on being able to negotiate the tunnel or you just want to avoid the gorge altogether with your RV (use your toad or tow vehicle to drive to Silverton), there is an alternative, very scenic route from Ridgway to Cortez and Durango. That is the CO 62-CO 145 route through Placerville and Telluride to Dolores that I use when towing my 5th wheel. And, just FYI, the Town of Telluride has a $15 big-rig/tour-bus friendly RV dump at their wastewater treatment plant. It is located in the public parking area at South Mahoney Drive and Pacific Avenue.
 |
| Telluride, just off CO 145, showing Bridal Veil Falls and the Black Bear Pass Road switchbacks on the wall of the box canyon |
And, while on the subject of driving the roads of the San Juans, this is Colorado's jeeping capital, so a few comments based on personal experience. Jeep roads were originally animal trails, then Ute horse trails, then pack trails for miner's mules and burros, then wagon roads. They were never designed by engineers, widened for modern 4WD pickups, or constructed with passing locations. So, just because you have a 4WD truck doesn't mean you should drive the jeep roads of the San Juans. If you want to do some 4-wheeling in your pickup, my advice is to have very good brakes, practice making 7-point turns, and stick to Engineer Pass and Ophir Pass. If you want to experience the adrenaline rush of "conquering" passes like Imogene and Black Bear, either schedule a jeep tour with an experienced driver in Ouray or Telluride or bring/rent a small, maneuverable OHV.
As one example to emphasize this point, not so many years ago an out-of-state visitor drove his big 4WD pickup off a San Juans jeep road into an off-limits area and to the edge of a cliff. When he couldn't turn around or back up without going over the edge, he walked out and notified the USFS. When the rescue team couldn't get it out either, the truck had to be taken apart and airlifted out by helicopter. That cost several hundred thousand dollars, including a massive Federal fine, but not including the cost of putting the truck back together (that's not in the USFS' job description)!
A few miles farther south on US 550 is Ridgway State Park, one of our favorite Colorado state park campgrounds. The park has one FHU campground below the dam and electric-only sites in two other campgrounds: an open, sunny one near the boat ramp-marina area and a nicely shaded one up on Elk Ridge, where we camp. On our last October stay there, the Elk Ridge D-Loop was walk-in only and there were a dozen available sites on a Wednesday afternoon. The big reservoir and the Uncomphagre River allow all types of fishing and host Colorado's biggest smallmouth bass tournament in July. Both former railroad town Ridgway and spectacular Ouray, with its hot springs pool, are just a short drive from the state park.
South of Ouray, Free camping is limited in areas near the major roads. Dispersed camping is possible in some areas of the San Juan National Forest, but BLM lands are limited due to the widespread abundance of patented mining claims. These claims are privately owned lands even when unfenced and unoccupied. So, know before you go by buying detailed maps or checking with the USFS or BLM ahead of your stay in this area (Google Earth does NOT show mining claims).
Red Mountain and the Idarado Mine on US 550
between Ouray and Silverton
An extremely scenic drive near that campground is the Ophir Pass 4WD road (FR 679). This 19th century wagon road for hauling mining equipment and supplies between Silverton and Ophir is only one-lane, hangs on the edge of a cliff, and has switchbacks too narrow to get a pickup truck around without a 3 or 4-point turn. But, of the passes between Ouray-Silverton and Telluride-Ophir, this road is the least difficult. Imogene and Black Bear are far more dangerous passes and not recommended for out-of-state visitors except on a jeep tour or ATV/OHV.
One very popular Free dispersed camping area south of Silverton and east of US 550 is located along the very long, dirt Lime Creek Road (FR 591). The easier northern entrance is located about 6 miles south of the Molas Lake parking area and the southern entrance is one US 550 hairpin curve north of Cascade Village. It is considered a 4WD road, but, if you have a truck or RV with a relatively high clearance, you shouldn't have a problem. However, being signed as 4WD, this is also one of the most popular ATV/OHV roads in San Juan National Forest. So, if you want peace and quiet when you are boondocking in the Colorado mountains, this may not be your favorite campsite.
If you do dispersed camping along US 550, please be conscientious concerning USFS regulations, other campers, streams, and roadless areas. In other words, please be a good “Tread Lightly” boondocker! One recent summer, we drove the 4WD-only Bolam Pass road (FR 578) from the Durango Mountain/Purgatory ski area to the Cayton campground (now with 19 electric sites!), located on CO 145 south of Telluride. Where this road runs adjacent to Upper Hermosa Creek, the USFS had posted the riparian areas with numerous “No Camping – Revegetation In Progress” signs. Behind the signs were at least a dozen groups of campers, some with horse trailers and some with toy haulers, OHVs, and trail bikes. And everywhere they had driven were deep ruts in the reseeded areas. My wife was shocked at the arrogance of those campers, who obviously didn’t feel that any rules applied to them. It was especially galling since a perfectly acceptable pine-shaded, Forest Service campground and a designated equestrian camping area were located only three miles east on the same road. That is exactly the kind of behavior that the Forest Service is going to use the Travel Management Rule to end. Will the Bolam Pass road be completely closed? Don’t be surprised if it is. That will be a shame because, although the upper portion of the road is extremely rocky (4WD-, OHV-, trail bike-, mountain bike-, horse-only) and traveled by relatively few people, the views of Lizard Head and the western San Juans from the top are spectacular!
As discussed in detail in the "US 160 West of Pagosa Springs" section below, there are not a lot of dispersed camping-boondocking areas near Durango and no dry camping at Walmart either. Because of the popularity of Durango during the summer-fall tourist season, USFS campgrounds like Haviland Lake (another "100 Best Colorado Campground") and Junction Creek are generally booked months in advance.
South of Durango, the land is mostly private near the highway and Southern Ute Indian Reservation land away from the highway. So, there is very little BLM land available for boondocking and not even a USFS pay campground. Maybe New Mexico has more places to boondock along US 550, but, if so, I've never explored them. You're on your own finding those.
No comments:
Post a Comment