Over the top: Lizard Head Pass, a San Juan Skyway high point

Rico sits in the eastern, mountainous part of Dolores County, reached by Highway 145 coming up from the Cortez and Dolores side. Keep going north and the highway climbs to Lizard Head Pass, whose summit straddles the Dolores–San Miguel county line before the road drops toward Telluride. This is one of the great drives on the San Juan Skyway, with fourteener views and the spire of Lizard Head itself rising over the road. The pass is not the way into the county; it is the way over the top, the scenic link between Rico and the towns on the far side. It is a beautiful drive and a real mountain pass, and for most of the year it is a pure pleasure to make.

Winter just asks for a little planning. Colorado has two levels of winter rules for ordinary cars, and CDOT can activate them on a mountain highway when conditions call for it. Under the traction law, your vehicle needs either all-wheel or four-wheel drive with qualifying tires and enough tread, or chains or an approved alternative traction device. Under the passenger-vehicle chain law, used in severe conditions, every vehicle must use chains or an approved alternative traction device to keep driving. The exact tire, tread, and device requirements are spelled out by CDOT, and the point of all of it is to keep one unprepared car from closing the road for everyone.

Snow, ice, and quick weather changes are normal up high, and a clear morning can turn fast. So the calm habit is to check conditions before you go, carry what you need for winter, and not treat the pass as a casual errand in a storm. That is just part of enjoying a highway that crosses a high Colorado pass.

For current conditions and the exact traction and chain rules, check CDOT’s winter driving information and the COtrip road conditions site before heading over Lizard Head Pass.