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San Juan Parkway, Colorado
July 25, 2007 | 23 Comments
In Early June, we went on a roadtrip to the four national parks in Colorado. We covered 2000 miles in 9 days, and encountered some of the most spectacular sights this geologically diverse region has to offer.
The orange line shows the areas we drove through, beginning and ending at Denver. The dots show the four national parks we visited. The red arrow points to The San Juan Parkway, that forms a 232 mile loop around the San Juan mountain range.
Anti-Clockwise:
Rocky Mountain National Park (Pics HERE)
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park (Pics HERE)
Mesa Verde National Park (Pics HERE)
Great Sand Dunes National Park (Pics HERE)
The San Juan Parkway, Colorado, is listed among the top ten scenic mountain drives in North America by GORP. The list:
Mount Baker Scenic Byway, Washington
Icefield Parkway, Alberta, Canada
Going to the Sun Road, Glacier National Park, Montana
Beartooth Highway, Montana and Wyoming
Snowy Range Road, Wyoming
Trail Ridge Road, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
San Juan Parkway, Colorado
Arkansas Scenic 7
Skyline Drive, Virginia
Kancamagus Highway, New Hampshire
We’ve been on four out of the ten (highlighted in bold). Winding for 232 miles through the San Juan and Uncompahgre National Forests, the San Juan Parkway, mile for mile, comes second in terms of the sheer magnificence of the vistas – next only to the Going-to-the-Sun road.
We started at Montrose, adjacent to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, about 30 miles north of Ridgway, where the San Juan Parkway begins. We stayed at this quaint Victorian-style Bed and Breakfast that was built as a schoolhouse in 1914, burned down two months later, and was rebuilt in 1915. The owner, Barbara (who makes the fluffiest pancakes), bought it in the 1990s and converted it into a B&B. It’s now up for sale.
A couple of miles from the B&B was the Ute Indian Museum, documenting the history and struggles of the Ute Native American tribe. They once were inhabitants of this this beautiful land. In the 1880s, they were displaced and sent to two reservations – one in the harsh desert terrain of north-eastern Utah, the other on the Colorado-New Mexico border. More about the Ute Indians here. The name ‘Utah’ derives from the Utes.
On the first day in this area, we drove along the western part of the San Juan range, from Ridgway to Stoner.
One is surrounded by peaks that are 14,000 feet high, spruce and fir forests, and the relics of some ancient Pueblo settlements.
The ski resort town of Telluride runs a free cable car service that gives you a glimpse of the valley.
All the way from Telluride, south to Dolores, surrounded by towering peaks that are snowcapped year round, one drives along the Dolores river.
We stopped here for a lunch break. We reached Stoner late in the afternoon and turned around, ‘cos we wanted to catch sunset at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison – more than two hours away.
The next day, we left at 7.30 a.m. from Montrose, aiming to reach Mesa Verde National Park by noon. We planned to take the eastern side of the San Juan Parkway via Ouray to Durango and Cortez.
Near the alpine village of Ouray are the Box Canyon Falls, a 285-foot cascade which plummets down over dark limestone into a deep canyon. It is amazing to hear the roar of the waterfall reverberating a long distance away, magnified by the echoes between the steep walls of the canyon. One hears it louder and louder as one approaches, but the thundering waterfall is almost completely concealed by the rock face, and is visible from only a couple of hundred feet away.
The 50-mile Stretch from Ouray to the quaint little town of Silverton is called the Million Dollar Highway, dotted with old mining towns. It is the most spectacular stretch of the San Juan Parkway, curving through the Red Mountains, along the sheer sides of the Uncompahgre Gorge, through tunnels, and above cascading waterfalls.
Approaching Chattanooga Valley
The Red Mountains are literally red, rich, as they are, in iron.
Much as our fingers were itching to take some pictures, we didn’t find any safe spots to pull up abruptly on the narrow winding roads with sheer drops from a height of 11,000 feet.
How narrow? How winding? How sheer? Take a look. Wonder how it is driving here on icy roads in winter. Plus, we were in a tearing hurry.
Some pictures of the Red Mountains
HERE, and
HERE.
The highway’s highest point is Red Mountain Pass (11,075 feet), followed by a string of passes, all above 10,000 feet.
View from Molas Pass (10,880 feet). The air here is some of the cleanest you will breathe.
From Silverton begins the 3000 plus foot descent through Purgatory to the historic town of Durango, driving through farmland and some beautiful countryside.
Some great pictures of the San Juan Parkway at
Widerange.org and
Cyclerideusa.
Just past noon, we reached Mesa Verde National Park, near Cortez.
Filed Under: colorado, lifestyle, Photo Essays, san-juan-parkway, skyway, TRAVEL
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23 Comments
Beautiful pictures and sorbets!
Such amazing pictures. The Box Canyon falls look superb
SIGH!! Bliss!
Oh what heaven. Lovely shots!
Beeeeeeeeeeutiful, breathtaking beautiful…
Great Pictures
Telluride sounds like some sort of metal, but the picture puts an entirely different cast on it.
Beautiful pictures! Loved the view from Molas Pass.
Amazing!!! You can’t do all that with kiddies hanging around ,believe me!! Enjoy Jai and Bee. You have got it made my friends!!:))
the red mountain pass looks so good. I think I saw it in travel channel too. I love reading these post of urs.
beautiful pics.
you can post a comment here on wordpress without typing in your e-mail ID or typing in random alphabets, or your web address. and you can keep spam at bay. why can’t it be possible on blogger?
this is a test comment, in case you’re wondering what’s going on.
- bee
Awesome pictures. Whose photography is it? Jai or Bee.
I must say you guys have mastered so many things.
J took these pics (i think i took the molano pass, but i’m not sure), but i was right there, behind him, giving him all the moral support he needed for such a challenging endeavour.
– b.
Amazing shots!
BTW, are the Sand Dunes pictures coming up? I can’t wait to see what magic you’ve done there with your camera!
we spent just an hour there, it was crowded with picnickers during a blazing afternoon. no chance for great pics in different light scenarios. we took a couple, but they’re not great by any means. – b.
Lovely pics Bee! And looks like you guys had a good time. Its been a while since me and K did this on our own. We love long drives too, gives us a lot of time to catch up and connect in our otherwise hectic life
Wish u could have driven just 8 more hours to visit me — denver is about 8 hrs from us. If i had known i would have insisted! The invitation still stands, so anytime later is fine too…
Hugs
Latha
Gorgeous pics! Haven’t yet been anywhere near the San Juan Valley. Apparently the Million Dollar Highway is a must do in fall. I’m hoping we are able to do it this year.
As for snow-capped all year round, that is slowly changing.
We are losing more of the snow cap each year because of the dust blowing in from Utah and Arizona. The dust settles on the snow and so it does not reflect as much sunlight as it used to and absorbs more, resulting in melting snow caps. This will be the third summer or part of it I have spent in this area – the first was just a 1 week visit – but I can tell you that there was more snow even on the Front Range 3 summers ago than there is now. Despite getting a lot of snow this past winter.
Global warming? *sigh*
I can’t wait to see your Mesa Verde pics and those vertical ladders. I get sick just thinking about them!
that’s why we want to go to glacier national park again. we want to get close to the glaciers (it’s a day-long trek), ‘cos they will be gone in ten years. – b.
Gorgeous pics! WHICH camera do u use?
canon digital rebel 300D – b.
Lovely pics!
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