A green alpine slope below dense dark evergreens is dotted with white mountain goats, with bright purple and yellow wildflowers filling the foreground. In the middle distance, a mineral-stained orange scar and a small snow patch cut through the mountainside.

Ophir Pass

Silverton, CO

Ophir Pass is a 11,789-foot alpine pass between Silverton and Telluride that follows a historic toll road built in 1881. The Silverton side features expansive views of the mineral-stained peaks of the Red Mountain mining district. Near the summit, the road traverses above timberline with vast open tundra and scattered wildflowers.

Photography Guide

Best Time: morning
Crowds: Quiet
Shot Types: widelandscapedetail
Best Seasons: summer

Practical Tips

High-clearance 4WD required. The Silverton side is the more scenic and less steep approach. The pass is typically open from late June through early October depending on snow conditions.

Is it a good day to go?

7-day outlook

Mild, dry days with light winds are the most comfortable for a visit.

Forecast by Open-Meteo. Verdicts weigh the forecast against the conditions that suit this spot.

Author's Comments

Most people choose Black Bear or Imogene and never think about Ophir, which is exactly why I keep going back. The Silverton approach is the one to take. The grade is gentler and the views begin almost immediately, the Red Mountain peaks staining the morning in rust and ochre, the old mining bones of the district scattered across the slopes like something the mountains forgot to bury. The road climbs through spruce and then past it, and somewhere around eleven thousand feet the world opens. Tundra in every direction. In late July the wildflowers come in patches rather than carpets up here, paintbrush and alpine avens tucked into the rock, and the wind carries that particular high-country silence that is not really silence at all but the absence of everything you are used to hearing. I shoot this pass three ways. Wide, for the scale of the basin and the way the light moves across it. Landscape compositions that use the road itself as a line leading the eye toward Telluride's peaks on the far side. And detail work in the tundra, where a square foot of ground at this elevation contains more than most meadows do at half the height. Go early. The afternoon storms build fast in the San Juans in summer and you do not want to be above timberline when they arrive. A high-clearance vehicle is not optional. The window is short, late June through early October if the snow cooperates, and the pass feels genuinely remote in a way that most Colorado passes no longer do. That is the gift of it. Almost nobody comes.

Gallery

A rust-colored aerial landscape of eroded canyons and ridges fills the frame, with steep scalloped cliffs casting deep shadows across the surface. Smooth, pitted plains at the top and right edge contrast with the rough, wind-carved terrain below. Photo: NASA/JPL/USGS / Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

Snow-striped alpine peaks rise above dark green forested slopes, with a broad valley dropping away below under a muted morning sky. The foreground shows a steep, rocky pass edge with lingering snow patches, emphasizing the high, remote terrain. Photo: David Hilton / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0

An antique black-and-white map fills the page, showing the southern Arabian Peninsula and East Africa with latitude and longitude grid lines, shaded coastlines, and labels such as Arabia Felix, Zingis, and Sofala. Handwritten catalog marks and a red library stamp sit in the margins of the aged paper. Photo: Anville, Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d' (1697-1782). Cartographe Delahaye, Guillaume-Nicolas (1727-1802). Graveur / Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

An old cream-colored map print fills the page, showing a narrow, vertically oriented coastline with grid lines, place names, and handwritten catalog markings. A faded red circular stamp overlaps the lower center, and the paper is lightly foxed with age. Photo: Anville, Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d' (1697-1782). Cartographe Delahaye, Guillaume-Nicolas (1727-1802). Graveur / Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

A narrow stream cuts through bright green alpine grass and low shrubs, with a small boardwalk curving in from the right. Sunlit mountain slopes and a darker ridgeline rise in the background under a clear morning sky. Photo: Schmiebel / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

Historic mining works line a narrow stream, with wooden sluices, gravel piles, and rough log supports stretching across the water under a pale sky. A few small figures and a horse stand on the ridge, emphasizing the remote, early-1900s industrial scene. Photo: Kinne, Albert D. / Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

Silverton City Hall stands centered in the frame, its pink stone facade and clocktower bell set against dark green mountain slopes and a pale morning sky. Tall evergreens flank the historic building, with parked vehicles at street level adding a small-town feel. Photo: Strange Happenings / Pexels

A black steam locomotive labeled 482 pulls a string of yellow and maroon passenger cars past a broad, sunlit mountain valley, with mineral-streaked slopes rising behind it. Power lines cross the pale blue sky, and the foreground is dark gravel with a few tiny wildflowers at the edge. Photo: Pixabay / Pexels

A small mountain town street sits below a steep green hillside under a bright blue sky with puffy white clouds. Historic buildings, parked vehicles, and a clock-tower courthouse line the road, with tall trees framing the scene. Photo: Strange Happenings / Pexels

Nearby Places

Wildflower-filled alpine meadow stretches across the foreground, dotted with pink, yellow, and white blooms. Steep gray-and-green cirque walls rise behind it under a heavy cloud layer, with a small patch of lingering snow near the ridge.

Alpine Lakes

Silverton, CO

Ice Lake Basin

Ice Lake sits at 12,585 feet in a glacial cirque surrounded by the dramatic peaks of Vermillion, Golden Horn, and Pilot Knob. The lake is known for its impossibly vibrant turquoise color, set against lush wildflower meadows in midsummer. The basin also includes Island Lake, another photogenic alpine destination.

golden hoursummer

Snow-streaked Red Mountain peaks rise above a dense dark-green forest, their rust-red and orange slopes glowing in warm afternoon light under a pastel blue-and-pink sky. A weathered mining trestle and scattered industrial ruins sit in the foreground, emphasizing the area’s mining history.

Overlooks

Ouray, CO

Million Dollar Highway - Red Mountain Pass

Red Mountain Pass sits at 11,018 feet along U.S. Route 550, the famous Million Dollar Highway connecting Ouray and Silverton. The surrounding peaks are stained vivid red and orange from iron oxide mineralization. Several pullouts offer views of the barren, colorful peaks and remnants of historic mining operations.

afternoonsummer · fall

A winter scene of Bridal Veil Falls pouring over a cliff in a thick white plume, with the rock face and foreground boulders coated in snow and long icicles. Mist rises around the frozen waterfall, softening the gray sky and the towering canyon wall.

Photogenic

Telluride, CO

Bridal Veil Falls

At 365 feet, Bridal Veil Falls is the tallest free-falling waterfall in Colorado. A historic hydroelectric power plant sits at the top of the falls and is one of the oldest alternating current power plants still operating in the world. The falls are visible from the east end of Telluride's box canyon.

morningspring · summer