This summer, the San Juan Skyway is celebrating its 25th birthday.

The Skyway, which encompasses the famously beautiful and, at points, famously terrifying Million Dollar Highway, stretches 236 miles in a loop through the San Juan Mountains, connecting Durango to Mancos, Cortez, Dolores, Rico, Telluride, Placerville, Ridgway, Ouray and Silverton.

In 1989, the San Juan Skyway became state’s first road to be designated a Scenic and Historic Byway.

In 1996, the San Juan Skyway was one of three Colorado byways and 20 nationwide to win the title of “All-American Road,” the highest level designated by the federal government.

Herald Staff