You have to go slowly around the narrow switchbacks, which is all the better to survey the astonishing colours. By the time you reach Ouray, population 700, you'll probably be ready for a soak in the hot springs pool, a huge public affair at the north end of town, on the west side of US 550. Dramatic waterfalls pour from vertical cliffs that closely surround Ouray. Nearby mountains offer hundreds of miles of jeep trails, considered by some to be the most challenging, extensive and scenic in the state. North of Ouray, the skyway loop turns off US 550 onto State Hwy.
Telluride provides free bicycles for visitors at racks in town.
A quick spin through downtown takes about 15 minutes. Telluride's Mountain Village overlooks ski slopes, a golf course and a prodigious show of colours. On the Skyway, driving over Lizard Head Pass and south on CO 145, the colours persist, draping 14,000-foot peaks and lowering meadows in a deepening palette of reds and golds. If anything, the colours are even more intense here, particularly near the little town of Rico. The road quickly descends from Rico, following the Dolores River.