Autumn on the Million Dollar Highway 2022

My favorite time of year along this incredible scenic route through the San Juan Mountains.

Photographs taken in the autumn of 2022 along one of the most incredible mountain roads in the San Juan Mountains of Southwest Colorado.

A cloudy morning at Arrastra Gulch with snow-covered peaks in the distance and patches of golden aspen leaves in the foreground.
Bright orange and gold aspen trees in the foreground with Twilight Peak in the distance obscured by falling snow.
Looking down on the Animas River Valley decorated in fall colors from Deadwood Gulch as the base of Kendall Mountain rises behind the river.
Autumn colors starting to pop in the Lime Creek valley.
Twilight Peak reaches up into the clouds with a fresh dusting of snow as the autumn colors adorn its base.
Water droplets adorn golden aspen leaves and their branches.
A rocky outcropping of Grand Turk emerges from low clouds near Molas Lake.
A dramatically moody morning as light begins to illuminate low clouds dancing on the Grenadier Range at Molas Pass.
Cloud-topped mountains with splashes of autumn color rise above Silverton as seen through the trees coming down from Molas Pass.
Autumn in Silverton as clouds clear following an early autumn snowstorm on the mountain peaks.
A freshly dusted peak outside Silverton rises up above a splash of aspen gold as low clouds dance across the scene.
Fresh snow and low clouds accentuate the beauty of Little Giant peak near Silverton.
Jagged, rocky peaks outside Silverton fade into the storm clouds bringing early autumn snow to the San Juans.
Stripes of morning light illuminate the distinctly orange aspen leaves near the Lime Creek burn scar.