INTO THE SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS: Tacoma and Lexus GX550

INTO THE SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS: Tacoma and Lexus GX550 

Colorado, Rocky Mountains · USA 2025 · Part 1

Justyna & Paweł  |  Bison Gear  |  September 2025

Ouray from above — a town locked in a valley at 2,300 m a.s.l., surrounded on all sides by the San Juan Mountains

The San Juan range — the name comes from Spanish for Saint John and dates back to 18th-century Spanish exploration of these lands — is the southwestern arm of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, one of the most mineral-rich ranges in the entire United States, where the 19th-century silver and gold rush left marks that remain in the landscape to this day. These are mountains where roads exist because someone once decided they were worth cutting into rock and leaving exactly as they are. We came to Colorado for the second time, but this time with completely different expectations — and we both know it won't be the last.

Route map — gold: Part 1 (San Juan Mountains) · rust: Part 2 (Black Bear Pass, Telluride) 

 Preparation and memories from 2024 

Our first time in Colorado was at the Overland Expo trade show in August 2024. We got just a taste of the mountains on a fairly demanding trail leading to the summit of Red Cone (3,902 m a.s.l.), where the rocks burn in shades of red — caused by oxidized pyrite. Back then we were driving a stock 5th-gen 4Runner, which handled everything beautifully. 

August 2024, Red Cone Pass, 3,902 m a.s.l. 


August 2024, Route: Fort Collins, Red Cone Pass, Webster Pass, Aspen. 

In three days we did Red Cone Pass, Webster Pass, and visited Aspen — the mecca of American skiing. But that was "on the side." This time the plan was the Rocky Mountains with their most iconic trails (Black Bear Pass, Imogene Pass), the legendary Moab, and the national parks of Utah. We started with Colorado and the San Juan Mountains. After a long flight via Munich across the ocean to Denver, with heads still not quite synced to the seven-hour time shift, we were a little disoriented — but we'd planned time for logistics, so jet lag was kinder to us this time around. Day one was for shopping, picking up the car, and repacking, since we'd brought some tried-and-tested gear from home — sleeping bags included. 

We rented a truck with an overlanding setup through outdoorsy.com — a Toyota Tacoma, essentially stock, with a mild lift, no serious modifications, and no-name tires, which turned out to matter more than we expected. First trip in this configuration quickly confirmed that loading a truck bed for two people just makes sense: everything has its place, nothing gets mixed up, and accessing gear doesn't mean unpacking half your kit. A two-person tent was mounted on a bed rack. We fitted a Bison Gear Diesel Heater on the MOLLE side panels and we were ready to go. We carried water in large 10-liter jerry cans with a tap, bedding and pillows in waterproof crates in the bed, along with the kitchen setup — which the truck's owner hadn't skimped on. Denver sits at just 1,600 meters, so the second day was a continuous climb toward the mountains, gaining elevation with every hour. 

Our American friend Arain and his wife were going to join us in the mountains — him in his Lexus GX550 fitted with a rooftop tent and a sensible accessories setup, us in the Tacoma. That combination of two essentially stock vehicles turned out to be exactly what those trails required. 

The Road to Ouray — September 19
The drive from Denver to Ouray is a seamless transition between worlds — prairie gives way to mountains. Blue Mesa Reservoir, Cimarron, Ridgway — these are the places we passed through. Each hour on the road shifts the perspective so noticeably that you can feel the landscape gaining depth and texture. 

The road to Ouray — the landscape changes with every kilometer, prairie and Blue Mesa Reservoir 

Ouray — a Town That Hides Billions of Years — September 20 

Ouray appears suddenly, locked in a valley at over 2,300 meters above sea level, surrounded by summits on every side. Even the air is different here: cooler, resinous, with that particular smell of high-mountain forest that in September already carries the first hints of autumn color. 

Worth exploring on foot — the Perimeter Trail loops around the entire town and delivers absolutely spectacular views. The trail passes spots where the sight of Ouray nestled among 3,000-meter peaks makes an impression even on people who've seen a lot, and the waterfalls and ridgelines make it hard to accept that all of this is accessible straight from the town center. It's one of those trails worth doing before heading further into the mountains, just to understand what kind of terrain you're actually in. 

 

Ouray from above — a town locked in a valley at 2,300 m a.s.l., surrounded on all sides by the San Juan Mountains 


Panorama around Ouray — the valley closed on all sides, peaks reaching over 3,000 m 

Perimeter Trail — the best way to experience Ouray from every angle 

The Ouray Museum is one of those places that impresses not because it's large or flashy, but because it's run by people who are genuinely engaged with the community and have been residents of this area for generations. The story is told from the perspective of home, family, and a place that still lives its own past. As a result, the photographs and exhibits stop feeling archival and start functioning as real evidence of the lives of people who built this region — and maybe that's why the planned twenty-minute visit turns into two hours. 

Ouray Museum — history of mining and the pioneers. 


Exhibits at the Ouray Museum 

What struck us most was realizing that in the 19th and early 20th century, a mountain settlement in the San Juan Mountains had running water, electricity, and everyday conveniences that people in Poland could only dream of at the same time. On the museum walls there are also photographs of expeditions organized by — as described — the oldest Jeep club in the world, which shows that mountain exploration in the form we now call overlanding has a much longer history than modern marketing would suggest. 

Near Box Canyon, just a few minutes from the main street, there's a spot that geologists travel from all over the world to visit. In the rock face you can see the Great Unconformity — a place where rock 1.7 billion years old sits directly against rock only a few hundred million years old, with no transitional layer between them. Over a billion years of Earth's history has simply vanished from the geological record, and science still has no definitive answer as to what exactly happened. You can stand at that rock face and try to comprehend the missing time. We managed to strike up a conversation with some of those very fascinated geologists right there. 

We couldn't leave without eating at Meggie's Kitchen — a cult spot where entire walls are covered in signatures from regulars. The burgers were unapologetically American, dripping with fat. Delicious, but we were convinced a heart attack was imminent any moment ;) 

Meggie's Kitchen – an iconic burger joint in Ouray

The evening was spent at the Ouray Hot Springs, which are exactly what they should be after a full day in the mountains — pools of geothermal water, views of the peaks, and air that drops in temperature so fast that sitting neck-deep in warmth you've got a cool head and warm feet at the same time. After a day of climbing, it works better than any recovery routine. 

Million Dollar Highway and Silverton — September 21 

US-550, the Million Dollar Highway, is a road that anyone with even a passing interest in driving and mountains has heard of — and one that stops needing any commentary after the first few bends, because it speaks for itself. Where does the name come from? There are several theories and probably each holds some truth. The first is about construction costs — the initial work in the 1880s or the later 1920s modernization was said to cost a million dollars per mile, which was an astronomical sum. The second is about materials: the gravel used to build the roadbed came from nearby gold and silver mines, so rich in ore that the entire route was literally "worth a million dollars." The third attributes the name to a pioneer who reportedly said he wouldn't drive the road again for a million dollars — and after a few bends over sheer drops with no guardrails, that version seems entirely plausible. The fourth, contemporary version simply refers to the million-dollar views. The road is carved into rock, stripped of guardrails on the outer edge, with drops of hundreds of meters below — which for someone used to offroading in mountains might not sound extraordinary, but in the USA, where every road comes standard with barriers, signs, and triple warnings before every bend, this is an exception that impresses even experienced drivers. 

Silverton sits at the end of this road at 2,823 meters and is exactly what it was a hundred and fifty years ago: a historic mining town with period brick architecture, a main street frozen in time. 

In Silverton we got to see the famous steam train that still runs here — for tourists now — and hear its characteristic sound bouncing off the mountains. That's also where we stumbled onto the best "everything store" we've ever seen: antlers on the walls, takeaway food, airgun pellets and ammunition next to the grocery section, hygiene products, liquor, and automotive parts. Everything anyone could need in mountains cut off from the world by winter. The lovely woman at the counter was joking with us the whole time, which only added to the charm of the place. 

Silverton — historic town at 2,823 m a.s.l., and the famous steam railway 

Automotive gems at every step in Silverton 

Silverton Deli & Grocery 

We met up with our friend there and drove up into the mountains to get a preview of what would be waiting for us the next day. We came back the same way, because there is no other way, and in the opposite direction the Million Dollar Highway looks different — same drops, same rock faces, but different light and a different angle, which is reason enough not to rush back. Evening: Ouray Hot Springs. Well earned. After a day packed with impressions we checked into our base camp — KOA (Kampground of America) in Ouray. 

Unexpected Flat Tire and Engineer Pass — September 22

KOA camping area in Ouray — our base camp. In the morning at 2,000 m it was just above freezing 

Morning temperatures at this elevation hovered around zero. Quick breakfast, sandwiches, and we were back on the Million Dollar Highway heading toward the Alpine Loop — our target was Engineer Pass. In the mountains it quickly becomes clear that San Juan doesn't require extreme modifications, but it doesn't forgive being unprepared — and the difference between those two things matters more than it might seem at the planning stage. Our Tacoma and Arain's GX550, both essentially stock, handled the trails without issue. The only thing that let us down was the no-name tires

Express wheel change 

We picked up a flat on the way in, which in itself wasn't dramatic, but for a moment it looked worse than it should have, because finding the wheel brace and jack took more time than it ever should — they theoretically should have been where they belong, in the storage compartment. It was a very concrete lesson to always check those things beforehand instead of assuming they're where they should be. The actual wheel change went smoothly, and help arrived almost immediately — first a driver in a blue 4Runner, a moment later some Jeep guys. And that's when you could feel that tension between camps that we'd previously known mostly from the internet: the Jeep drivers were visibly impatient, almost edging us off the road while we were finishing up. That small episode only confirmed that some stereotypes have a basis in reality. 

The Tacoma handled these trails brilliantly 

The approach to the summit — views open up with every meter 

At 3,906 meters above sea level the air is thinner, the wind stronger, and the 360-degree views take in range after range, snow-covered peaks in September, and valleys so far below it's hard to believe you were there just a few hours earlier. 

3,906 m a.s.l. — Tacoma and GX550 at the summit. 360° views across the San Juan ranges


Engineer Pass, panorama from the highest point 

Engineer Pass sits at over 3,700 meters and is another legend of these trails — the road climbs more and more steeply, vegetation thins to the point where only rock and sky remain, and at 3,746 meters a plateau opens up with views that make the car stop on its own, because the driver forgets they're driving. 

Descent from the summit — the road down is just as spectacular. A Rivian on the trail. 

We drove Engineer Pass on the spare, but after speaking with the rental owner we knew we'd need to go down to the service network in Gunnison. We were heading that way, but it was getting dark, so we decided to camp along the route. We picked a spot at Curecanti National Recreation Area — the Morrow Point reservoir, part of the lake system along the Gunnison River. The vegetation is dry and rocky, without the greenery that was a constant backdrop in Ouray, and that's where we understood that Colorado contains several very different worlds within one state, each requiring a different approach. Reservations done online. There was a toilet, running water, and a fire pit. The views changed into open prairie and made an incredible impression. That night we switched on the parking heater, worried about moisture in the air amplifying the cold — but it turned out to be unnecessary, because our tent was genuinely warm. 

Overnight at Curecanti National Recreation Area — different vegetation, dry terrain, new colors

Gunnison and Yankee Boy Basin — September 23

Quick breakfast, packed up, and off to Gunnison where everything went remarkably smoothly. The spare and new tire were replaced under the rental insurance. The best tacos we ate on the entire trip were in this town — from a small drive-in stand called Sunrise Tacos.