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The Million Dollar Highway
A guardrail-free cliff drive in the San Juans
The Million Dollar Highway is a spectacular and notoriously nerve-wracking 25-mile stretch of U.S. Route 550 through the San Juan Mountains of Colorado, between Silverton and Ouray. Part of the San Juan Skyway, it clings to steep cliffs with sheer drop-offs and few guardrails as it crosses high mountain passes, its name variously attributed to costly construction or the ore in its roadbed.