5 Dangerous Road Trips in the USA

As Lauren said, you can't control the other drivers on Hwy 550 south of Ouray. It is not only other drivers you have to watch out for but large rocks and wildlife. I have probably been involved in as many body recoveries off of Hwy 550, Red Mountain Pass, as anyone on the forum, from all types of vehicles. This past year has had two deaths on this strip of road. One was ruled a suicide but those folks will take you with them if you get in their way.

As a former deputy sheriff for Ouray County and a deputy coroner, I can assure you it is a scenic road and if everything goes as planned, not a problem. But through in some glitch,a driver crossing over on to your side, a run away truck with over heated brakes and there is no where to go other than into the mountain side or off the cliff side. I patrolled that road daily when on duty and I gave it a lot of respect. It is a road that may only give you one oops. Plus I can't begin to count the number of drivers that froze from panic attacks and chose to park on the center line, usually on a blind curve it seemed. Then we, the deputies, had to respond and pry the drivers hands off the steering wheel and put them in the back seat of the patrol car. If a passenger could drive we let them do so or a back up deputy would drive the car with the passenger's permission. (usually the co-owner of the vehicle) or we would get a tow truck up from Ouray to haul it. All the panic attack folks I had to rescue were all men, women seem to be more realistic about their driving ability and skills.

Just be prepared to take what you get, if a deer runs out in front of you, hit it, don't dodge off the edge. If a truck comes around the corner ahead of you on your side, hit him head on, don't dodge off the edge, etc. Some can't do this and very few survive a 300 to 600 foot drop to the beautiful creek running below.

This sign put up by the Colorado DOT says it all.



In some places the white line has fallen off the road. A driver needs to know within 8 to 10 inches of where their front tire is running at all times and where the rear cliff side tire is tracking. Try the trip in a car first, is what I recommend, then decide if you want to take your RV over it.

Unfortunately for me, I have a fear of heights. If I'm on a road that has no shoulder, no guard rail, and a 1000 ft drop, my phobia kicks in big time.

2gypsies wrote:
Well, our experience of many, many drives on 550 is that no one crossed the line. Guess we're lucky.

Well, our experience of many, many drives on 550 is that no one crossed the line. Guess we're lucky.

550 is great as long as you have control of all the jerks coming against you taking their half out of the middle. You don't have much leeway to the side coming out of Ouray and some other spots. And no guard rail. And straight down a long way. Sudden stop at the bottom.

#1 on that list is scary to me. There is no way I would knowingly drive up that road. Did it once, or one just like it when in Rocky Mountain National Park. Even 30 years ago, I was terrified of going up that climb with no shoulder, at times, and never no guard rails.

I would have no problems with those others, unless the Alaska one went up in the mountains with possible rain/ice/snow.

Whoever wrote the description of US 17 in Beaufort County, SC has never been there! Peaks? Valleys? MOUNTAIN LIONS? I will eat raw without salt any mountain lion killed on 17 in Beaufort County! I've driven several of the others with no ill effects. I don't know why anyone would write something this foolish, so I'll toss it in my trash file and forget it!

This link is like most said here pure unmitigated c}aP.

These kinds of sites are also why, IMO, we have an ever increasing population of pantywaists, fraidycats and all around "Kittys".

You'd never guessed that our ancestors settled this country by walking across it with covered wagons and on horseback without GPS, Rand McNalley, RV.net etc etc...ARE we really related to them? LOL

Boston.

LOL! We take such pride in that! :B

I'm surprised that the article didn't mention crossing the Bighorns in Wyoming. That's the only place I've been where there were turnouts with signs suggesting that you pull over to check your brakes before descending the next hill.
Maybe they're calling them dangerous because they're lonely. But if that's the case, there are sections of A1 and A3 in Alaska where I didn't see another vehicle going or coming all day.

cruiserjs wrote:
#3 in that list is completely wrong!! Highway 2 is several miles north of Butte MT and Three Forks!! Both of these are on Interstate 90.
So how accurate are the rest of that list??
Trying to scare us??

Good catch. :)

When I saw Hwy 2 my thought, because of it's description, was the U.S. 2 which runs far north from the Washington coast to the Michigan.

I see now that it mentions Butte and Three Forks, that isn't the same U.S.2. It's a state hwy 2 and is only two small cutoffs from I-90. It's not what they're describing.