Trip of the week: a spectacular road trip in southern Colorado
The San Juan Skyway is arguably ‘the most spectacular stretch of tarmac in America’
Most visitors to Colorado come for the Rocky Mountain National Park, or renowned ski towns such as Vail, Breckenridge and Beaver Creek. Less well known is the San Juan Skyway, far to the south, but it is perhaps “the most spectacular stretch of tarmac in America”, says Aaron Millar in The Sunday Times. A 236-mile loop through the San Juan Mountains, it commands consistently “celestial” views of 14,000ft peaks (hence “skyway”), and passes through some of the state’s most charming towns. A new initiative, the Inns of the San Juan Skyway, offers two- to ten-day self-drive or all-inclusive guided trips, with stays at historic hotels in the former mining settlements of Ridgway, Ouray, Silverton, Durango and Telluride.
The John Wayne classic True Grit was filmed in Ridgway in 1968, and the town is still like a film set, with its western-style saloons, “faded” firehouse and collection of 19th century trains. Nearby Ouray is known as the “Switzerland of America” for the amphitheatre of jagged summits in which it sits. Circling the town is a six-mile hiking path, the Perimeter Trail, with a metal cliff walkway that takes you “deep into the thunder” of the towering Box Canyon Falls. The vertiginous road onwards to Silverton offers perhaps the most “hypnotic” views of the entire route.
There are wonderful hot springs along the way, including a natural subterranean steam room near Ouray. At Mesa Verde National Park near Durango, there are more than 600 Native American cliff dwellings, which are around 1,000 years old – the best-preserved such site in America. And the most sublime of the five towns comes last. Tucked deep in a box canyon with “dragon-tooth” summits all around, Telluride and the hiking trails around it are almost “unreal” in their beauty.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A four-night trip costs from £1,470pp, half-board (coloradoskyway.com).
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Today's political cartoons - November 11, 2024
Cartoons Monday's cartoons - border walls, the Christmas creep, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Is Cop29 a 'waste of time'?
Today's Big Question World leaders stay away as spectre of Donald Trump haunts flagship UN climate summit
By The Week UK Published
-
The rise of the celebrity chef tour
The Week Recommends Chefs and food writers are hosting sell-out live events around the world
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK Published
-
Juror #2: Clint Eastwood's 'cleverly constructed' courtroom drama is 'rock solid'
The Week Recommends Nicholas Hoult stars in 'morally complex' film about a juror on a high-profile murder case
By The Week UK Published
-
Explore a timeless corner of Spain by bike
The Week Recommends Take a 'dawdling route through the back-country' far from the tourism hotspots
By The Week UK Published
-
Saoirse Ronan: how the actress went viral
In the Spotlight The actress dropped a 'chat-icide bomb' on Graham Norton's BBC show
By The Week UK Published
-
Griddled salmon and vegetables with miso and melted butter recipe
The Week Recommends Hokkaido comfort food classic with a delicious twist
By The Week UK Published
-
Edmund de Waal on this year's Booker Prize shortlist
The Week Recommends The chair of judges details works by Rachel Kushner, Percival Everett and others
By The Week UK Published
-
Shattered: Hanif Kureishi's 'inspirational' memoir of accident that left him paralysed
The Week Recommends 'Exhilarating' book is composed of diary entries dictated to his son Carlo
By The Week UK Published
-
Dr. Strangelove: is stage adaptation of iconic film a 'foolish' move?
Talking Point Steve Coogan puts on a dazzling performance in show that falls short of 'the real thing'
By The Week UK Published
-
Small Things Like These: 'stylish' Irish drama 'casts a powerful spell'
The Week Recommends 'Stylish' drama starring Cillian Murphy as a devoted father
By The Week UK Published