We drove from Santa Fe back in to Colorado to visit the mountain town of Durango. We had heard great things about Durango from friends, so we could not wait to pay it a visit. Durango did not disappoint. It turned out to be one of our favorite places we have visited so far.
The stage was set on our drive from Santa Fe to Durango. The mountains in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado are nothing short of beautiful. We had been in a desert environment for weeks in Colorado and New Mexico, so the sight of any trees would have been great. The colorful trees changing for fall were icing on the cake. The San Juan Mountains, in our opinion, are the most beautiful we have yet to see in Colorado.
Not only is the scenery around Durango awesome, so many other things about the area appealed to us as well. We could really see ourselves living here one day. So much so that Jamie has already been emailing back and forth with a local realtor. Here are some of the things that we loved about the area around Durango.
Mountains
It’s not a huge surprise that I love the mountains and the Durango area has plenty of them to go around. There are views of mountains from just about everywhere in town. You also don’t have to go far from town to be up in the high mountains of the San Juans – several 14ers are nearby. We drove up into the mountains one day and were quickly up in the snow among the high peaks. Along with these mountains come lots of options for hiking, biking, climbing, and skiing. The mountains are also full of National Forest and National Parks like Mesa Verde.
Trails
All those mountains would be just for show if you couldn’t get up into them and play. Luckily, Durango seems to have figured this out. There are lots of trails in and around Durango to provide quick access to the mountains. In fact, there are several trail systems that start right from downtown where you can hike, mountain bike, and trail run. A setup like this is perfect to me. More towns should learn from what Durango has done here.
Biking
Our tow vehicle, a Ford F-250, has a big set of bike racks over the bed with four mountain bikes on it. Normally, we stick out like a sore thumb with that setup. In Durango, having bikes stacked up on your vehicle is the norm. You would likely feel more out of place here if you didn’t have a bike (or at least a rack) on your automobile somewhere. There are bike lanes on roads all throughout the city. There are miles and miles of mountain biking trails in and around Durago. Durango is also home to one of the best paved rails to trails bike trails we have ever ridden, the Animas River Trail.
Skiing
We, unfortunately, didn’t get a chance to ski while we were in Durango since it’s still to early in the fall. We did get to drive up into the mountains and see snow and a couple of the ski resorts though. Purgatory is only about 30 minutes from Durango and looks like it would be a great local ski hill. There is night skiing at Hesperus, 15 minutes from town. They even have a small ski hill right in town. Telluride is a couple hours away, Silverton is an hour away and there is snow cat skiing nearby as well. If downhill skiing is not your thing, there are several areas for Nordic skiing in and around Durango. I am sure there are plenty of backcountry options nearby as well.
Water
Durago has several lakes nearby (as a friend described them – big lakes and small lakes) and the beautiful Animas River running right through town. This provides lots of opportunities for water sports like SUPing, kayaking, and boating. We love the mountains, but we love the water just as much. With all of this water nearby, we consider that box checked.
Town
The town of Durango is awesome. Durango is a small college town of around 20,000 but it has lots of great shops and restaurants like you may find in the cool area of a larger city. Since it is a college town, Durango has a great vibe and the restaurants are fun and cheap. There are several breweries in town that seem really cool (at least the ones we visited). One of them is called Ska Brewery and we saw a pint glass from there where they had a party that Fishbone and The Toasters had played at. Yes, please.
Nearby Towns
Not only is the area surrounding Durango beautiful, there are also some pretty cool towns around. We drove through Pagosa Springs on the way to Durango and it looked like a really cute town. There are several hot springs there, which only adds to its appeal. We drove the Million Dollar Highway one day through the mountains to Silverton and Ouray. Silverton is an old mining town that still feels like an old mining town. It is way up in the mountains, so there was snow on the ground when we drove through. That made the Million Dollar Highway quite an adventure in some areas.
Ouray is known as the Switzerland of America and it is easy to see why. There are huge mountains rising out of the small town, making it one of the most picturesque towns we have ever been to. It is home to the best burger I have ever had at a hole in the wall named “Maggie’s Kitchen”. Ouray is also known as the ice climbing capital of America and you can see why as you drive into town. Telluride is right around the corner. We didn’t make it there but I have heard it is an awesome town as well.
People
This doesn’t just apply to Durango… Everyone we have met from Colorado seems to be genuinely nice and friendly. We have met relatives and friends of friends in Colorado Springs, Canon City, and Durango and they have all been wonderful people. We have really enjoyed the times we have spent with these new friends on this trip. These are people that we now consider friends and hope to keep in touch with. Maybe it’s because these are mountain people, who are typically great people. Maybe it’s because all the people we met here were connected to really awesome friends back east. Either way, the people here seem great.
Put this all together and you get an awesome place to visit or live. We have only gotten really excited about a couple places on this trip where we feel like we could live one day – Burlington and Durango. I read over my description of Burlington on this blog and it sounds really familiar to Durango. I am pretty sure we are getting a good idea of what type of town we want to land in one day. Durango, you may see us again.
P.S. They also have a car wash big enough to pull our Airstream into. Yes!
We are so excited to watch the rest of your trip unfold! We are hanging downtown at Father’s Daughter’s Pizza, with some ska beer, celebrating an afternoon exploring peaks in the mountains and the beautiful fall weather in Durango.
When you come back we’ll gather again!
Jeff & Stacy … and Coco (kids stayed home)