Lizard Head Pass is the high point of Colorado Highway 145, at 10,222 feet, or 3,116 metres, and it is one of the most beautiful spots on the San Juan Skyway. The pass is a broad, open saddle of meadows and wetlands, surrounded by peaks, and its namesake, Lizard Head, a crumbling volcanic spire, rises above the ridge to the west. It is a steep and loose tower that climbers consider one of the hardest summits in Colorado to reach, and from the road it looks like the head of a lizard poking out of the mountain, or so the early settlers thought.
The pass was once crossed by the Rio Grande Southern, a narrow-gauge railroad built in the 1890s to serve the mining towns of the San Juans, including Telluride, Ophir and Rico. It was a remarkable feat of engineering, with trestles, loops and steep grades, and it ran until the 1950s. The old grade can still be seen in places, and at Trout Lake, a few miles north, a wooden trestle survives. Telluride, down the valley, was a booming mining town in the late nineteenth century, and it was there in 1889 that Butch Cassidy robbed his first bank.
The riding is superb. Highway 145 climbs from the Dolores River valley to the south in long, sweeping curves, through forests of aspen and spruce, and drops toward Telluride on the north side through a series of curves with views of the jagged peaks of the San Juans. The pavement is decent, but there can be gravel, potholes and frost heaves, and the weather is a constant concern: afternoon thunderstorms are common in summer, with lightning, hail and heavy rain, and a summer snow squall at the summit is not unusual. The air is thin at this altitude, and it can affect both rider and bike.
In autumn, around late September, the aspens turn gold, and the slopes around the pass are a riot of colour. There are no services on the pass itself, so plan your fuel carefully: Telluride and Mountain Village, about fifteen kilometres north, have fuel, food and lodging, but at resort prices, while Rico, to the south, is a small former mining town with limited services. Durango, the nearest large town, is a long ride away. The pass has a small parking area with toilets and interpretive signs, and it is a fine place to stop, breathe the thin air, and look at the mountains.