Durango, CO to Montrose, CO US 550

[Alan__]

Has anyone taken their bus on this route in the summer? If so, any advice?

[Jim_Scoggins]

Took that route in my 1986 PT40 Bluebird. No sweat. Easy. Enjoy yourself.

[merle&louise]

Alan,

We stayed at Alpen Rose RV park in Durango and drove the toad to Silverton and Ouray on 550. If I remember correctly, it was a typical winding mountain road and at one point the elevation was over 12,000' !!:eek:

I would drive it first in the Yukon and then make your own decision.
The coach can make it easily, but you and Mary Kay may get a little dizzy with all of the turns and grades.

Good luck:D

[bluevost]

Alan,

The drive from south to north on 550 is a bit tricky because the canyon wall is on your right side as you drop into Ouray. Little room for error. We were in Cortez just last week and opted to go to Telluride and over to 550.

Have fun and be safe.

[Alan__]

Thanks for the heads up on the road. Appreciate the input.

[merle&louise]

Alan,

Just curious, did you drive the Prevost to Montrose?:confused:

[Alan__]

Tuga -
Leaving for Santa Fe and CO next week.

[Larry W]

US 50 from Silverton to Montrose is also referred to as the million dollar highway. We live in Montrose and have elected to never drive our 45' coach over this route. There are three passes, Molas, Coal Bank and Red Mountain.
We take the long route through Cortez to Telluride to Montrose. This takes you over Lizard Pass. Most of Lizard head does not exceed three precent grade. The largest problem with Red Mountain in the summer are all the summer visitors that take their half of the road out of the middle leaving no room for a bus. It seems they do not want to be close to the almost 1000 feet drop off with no guard rails.

Larry W
2000 Royale

[Alan__]

Larry W: Good point on the summer traffic.

How about US 160 from Pagosa Springs north over Wolf Creek Pass? I understand they have most of the road construction completed.

[Larry W]

We have not been over Wolf Creek in some time. We do go to Monte Vista quite often and have noticed on our last trip all the warning signs about the construction on Wolf Creek have been removed. This was last weekend.
If you want to take your bus to Silverton the road is not bad, it is Red Mountain Pass that is narrow, crooked and full of folks that are scared to death. Cortez to Telluride will add about 40 miles to Montrose from Durango but only about 20 minutes in drive time.