Durango, Silverton, Pagosa Springs / COME TO LIFE and tubing — including a 2-mile shuttle-served stretch with new features right in town — and fishing adventures, ATV tours, 2.5 million acres of wilderness and national forest, 650 miles of trails, the Wolf Creek Pass (4) drive (pull over at Lobo Overlook for 360-degree views), waterfall and wildflower hikes and camping. Williams Creek Reservoir is a gorgeous lake surrounded by mountains, popular with fishers, mountain-bikers and picnickers. There’s also 30 miles of incredible singletrack in Turkey Springs Rec-reation Area . The Dakota Springs trail system is another patch of well-designed singletrack, and features 3 miles of new trails. In town, there’s a new urban single track trail system, a climbing/bouldering park and skatepark, not to mention three craft breweries and a handful of great restaurants. Visit durango.org/crafted-beverages for a Crafted Bev-erages of Southwest Colorado tour, which leads past nearly 30 independent and unique breweries, distilleries, wineries and cideries in all three of these towns and beyond. WINTER FUN T Purgatory, just outside Durango, is emerging as one of the nation’s top ski destinations, with affordable packages and a low-key vibe. Silverton Mountain is the state’s highest and steepest ski mountain, serving up un-groomed expert terrain, while those seeking lower-key affairs head to Kendall Mountain Ski Area near Silverton and Hesperus near Durango. Just 23 miles from Pagosa Springs, visitors and locals alike flock to Wolf Creek Ski Resort to ski and ride “the most snow in Colorado,” with an average of 430 inches of natural (not man-made) snowfall per season. Beyond the slopes, Duran-go, Silverton and Pagosa Springs all take advantage of their deep San Juan Mountain powder with endless trails perfect for backcountry snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, sled-ding and snowmobiling. 6 or the waterfalls of Cunningham Gulch , and the ghost towns of Eureka and Howardsville . CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: VALLECITO CREEK TRAIL, KENNAN HARVEY; KENDALL MOUNTAIN SKI AREA, SCOTT D W SMITH; NAVAJO STATE PARK, COLORADO PARKS AND WILDLIFE/CHRISTOPHER STARK. is located near beautiful Vallecito Reservoir and is great for all ages. Back in Durango, make plans for excellent eats at the town’s new 11th Street Station food-truck co-op, serving everything from sushi to coffee. Thanks to a wealth of historic and scenic 4x4 roads that lace through the surrounding mountains, 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 months. Durango was named one of Outside Magazine ’s best new adventure hubs for its access to skiing, whitewater, fishing, hiking, byways and mountain-bike trails. Visit the town’s Main Street welcome center to find out how to access all that recreation. Just 40 minutes away, consider visiting Vallecito Lake , one of the state’s largest and most spectacular, with plenty of fishing, boating, hiking, Jeeping, snowmobiling and other activities. The Vallecito Creek Trail (6) hike DAY 2 East of Durango, Pagosa Springs offers record-holding deep min-eral waters, used by The Springs Resort and Spa (5) (known for a luxurious yet family-friendly feel), as well as Overlook Hot Springs and Healing Waters Resort & Spa right in town. Pop into the visitor center for trail maps, a free water bottle and a bike-repair station. West of town, find Chimney Rock National Monument ’s otherworld-ly rock formations and Ancestral Puebloan history (the full-moon and night-sky tours are epic); or seek out Pagosa’s San Juan River riches with rafting, kayaking STAY & PLAY OPTIONS Arboles , Bayfield , Durango (page 196), Ignacio , Pagosa Springs (page 202), Silverton (page 204), Vallecito Lake (page 205) SIDETRIPS Ignacio is a ranching community located in a long val-ley bordered by the La Plata Mountains. Today Ignacio supplies the adjacent Southern Ute Indian Reservation and ranches scattered throughout this remote area. 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 , one of the tribe’s economic mainstays, is very popular with visitors. The casino features gaming halls, hotel rooms and restaurants. Recreational spots include Navajo State Park , which provides ample opportunity to enjoy water sports — jet skiing, house boating, fishing — and the reservation’s top trout-fishing hole, Lake Capote . SUMMER AT SKI RESORTS R Durango’s Purgatory Resort is a summer play-ground, with mountain-bike rentals, lifts and trails, as well as kids camps, a mountain coaster and alpine slide, scenic chair lifts, ziplines, ropes courses, stand-up paddleboarding and so much more. COLORADO.COM / 137
Colorado Official State Vacation Guide 2020: Page 137
