US 550 Silverton to Grand Junction

Beautiful drive. Very nice 2 LANE hyway... BUT... u'll be on the outside(dropoff) lane in 2 spots nomatter which way you go because the road switches across the canyon. These areas, altho short, always give me the shivers...roadway...white line...canyon... DO NOT let the rite front tire off the edge!!!

Thanks for the replies, when I went through before they were boring a tunnel that stopped traffic for a while. It is a beautiful drive and it will be nicer when I am not in a hurry to get anywhere. I am also considering the "turbo brake" for routes such as this.

We will look at the Ridgway State park for our travels through the area.

Drove w/5th wheel from Durango to Ouray in summer of 2011. I thought the road surface conditions were just fine at that time. My brakes got a tad warm, but it has beautiful scenery. I'm glad I did it at least once in my life.

If you've been there before, then you know about the drop offs and lack of guardrails. They have been doing some repaving and reworking of the bridges above Ouray in the last few years, so it is a smoother road there. But otherwise the grades and such are the same as 25 years ago.

That is a beautiful route. Take your time, and you should really enjoy yourself. Telluride/Ouray/Silverton/Durango area is one of the prettiest part of the state. We camped at Ridgeway State Park a few years ago, had a great time.

I did not tow that route but I drove it and the road was in great shape compared to 25 years ago except for a massive rockslide just south of Ouray. The road was reduced to one lane.