2022-12-03 09:58:43
Spending just a few days in Durango, Silverton and Pagosa Springs will give you a taste of the glories of true Southwest living, inspiring ancient monuments and plenty of ways to get the heart racing. Day 1 In Durango, historical buildings housing art galleries, eateries and breweries line Main Avenue. Cyclists zip through town and the toot-toot of the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad sounds. Durango was named one of Outside Magazine’s best adventure hubs for its access to skiing, whitewater, fishing, hiking, byways and mountain-bike trails. Visit the welcome center to find out how to access it all. The train has been operating continuously for nearly 140 years, and a ride on its rails is a must. The tracks roll through parts of the San Juan National Forest that are impenetrable by car. There’s a stop (and combo packages available) at Soaring Tree Top Adventures, an ecotour on 27 ziplines that zooms over the Animas River and through aspens and ponderosas. Or stay on the train to visit Silverton, a storybook mining village with well-preserved splendor. The entire town is a designated National Historic Landmark and an archetypal example of a mining town that reinvented itself after the ore disappeared. There are shops and restaurants to explore, as well as historical sites, including the Mayflower Mill, Old Hundred Gold Mine and Silverton Museum and Jail. If you extend your stay here, you have plenty of options for enjoying the surrounding San Juans, including rafting, horseback riding, epic day hikes up to the waterfalls of Cunningham Gulch and the ghost towns of Eureka and Howardsville. Thanks to a wealth of historical and scenic 4x4 roads, the area is incredibly popular for Jeep and ATV tours. Summer and fall offer glimpses into seldom-accessed fields of wildflowers and autumn color. Hundreds of miles of groomed trails await in the winter. Back in Durango, make plans for excellent eats at the town’s 11th Street Station food-truck park, Moose & Squirrel and EsoTerra Ciderworks. Or head out to James Ranch Grill’s “table on the farm,” with a menu that couldn’t be more locally sourced. Just 40 minutes away, consider visiting Vallecito Lake. It’s one of the state’s largest and most spectacular, with plenty of fishing, boating, hiking, Jeeping, snowmobiling and other activities. The Vallecito Creek Trail hike is located near beautiful Vallecito Reservoir and is great for all ages. Day 2 East of Durango, Pagosa Springs offers record-holding deep mineral waters, used by The Springs Resort and Spa (known for a luxurious yet family-friendly feel), as well as Overlook Hot Springs and Healing Waters Resort & Spa. West of town, find Chimney Rock National Monument’s rock formations and Ancestral Puebloan history. Self-guided tours show you the most important spots, and night-sky programs will take your breath away. Seek out Pagosa’s San Juan River with rafting, kayaking, tubing and fishing. There are also ATV tours, 2.5 million acres of wilderness and national forest, 650 miles of trails, the Wolf Creek Pass drive, waterfall and wildflower hikes, and camping. Williams Creek Reservoir is popular with fishers, mountain bikers and picnickers. There’s also miles of singletrack in the Turkey Springs Recreation Area and the Dakota Springs trail system. Pop into the visitor center for trail maps and download the Visit Pagosa Springs app for walking tours, scavenger hunts and visitor info. In town, there’s an urban singletrack trail system, a climbing/ bouldering park and skatepark, not to mention craft breweries, a handful of great restaurants and year-round horse-drawn carriage tours. SIDETRIPS Ignacio is a ranching community bordered by the La Plata Mountains. The Southern Ute Tribe, a descendant of two of the seven original Ute tribes that inhabited Colorado, is headquartered just north of Ignacio, but its reservation spans more than 680,000 acres. The modern Sky Ute Casino Resort’s gaming halls, hotel rooms and restaurants are popular with visitors. Recreational spots include Navajo State Park, which provides ample opportunity to enjoy water activities like jet skiing, house boating and fishing, as well as the reservation’s top trout-fishing hole, Lake Capote Summer Fun AT SKI RESORTS Durango’s Purgatory Resort is a summer playground, with mountain-bike rentals, lifts and trails, as well as camps, a mountain coaster, alpine slide, scenic chair lifts and ziplines. Winter Fun Purgatory, outside Durango, is affordable and has a lowkey vibe. Silverton Mountain serves up ungroomed expert terrain. Those seeking less intense terrain head to Kendall Mountain Ski Area (Silverton) or Hesperus (Durango). Just 23 miles from Pagosa Springs, Wolf Creek Ski Resort is known for “the most snow in Colorado” each season. Beyond the slopes, these towns take advantage of their deep powder with backcountry snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling and dog-sled tours.
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