This post is number 2 in a series of 3 about my family’s summer vacation. My other hobby besides reading is planning vacations. Click here to read about our first stop, Mesa Verde National Park.
Durango, Colorado was a fun stop between the two National Parks we visited this summer. It’s a vibrant and beautiful former mining hub with so much to do!
Day 1 – Rafting and Restaurant Recommendation
After setting up at our campground, which had a beautiful view from spot 12, (they had cottages too so you could stay here even without a camper) we headed out to our first adventure, rafting.
We used Mountain Waters Rafting and did the Quarter-day (2 hour) tour on the Animas River that runs through Durango. We are all beginning rafters so this “intro” tour was good for us. They provide all kinds of trips, even some overnight. Our tour had one level 3 drop and some action at the end, but mostly it was pretty calm so it gave us a chance to get comfortable with rafting and seeing Durango from the river.
After changing into dry clothes, we headed out to dinner at Ken and Sue’s, which I reserved on OpenTable. I love Open table and not having to talk to anyone – ha!! We quickly found out our waiter was also a guide at the rafting company we used. Durango seems like a small town in that sense. We loved the food and atmosphere at this restaurant, especially the outdoor seating.
Day 2 – Driving to Silverton and Ghost Tour
Through we had future reservations to travel to Silverton (another, smaller mining town higher up in the mountains) via the famous train, we decided to drive up there beforehand to get a different view (yikes! the drops!) and do a mining tour.
We also needed to guarantee time to accomplish my husband’s dream of getting an “old time photo” at Professor Shutterbugs. They helped with picking costumes (so fun!) and our photos turned out great. I may be saving them for our holiday cards!!
The 100 Year Mining Tour was informative – you go in a real, former mine by train and see the equipment in action (warning this is very loud). Included with your ticket you can pan for gold as long as you want!
Back in Durango we made time to visit The Strater Hotel, which is where I would want to stay if we weren’t in our RV. This is a historical hotel for many reasons, including that Louie L’Amour wrote in one of its rooms above the Diamond Belle Saloon.
The food here was OK; it’s more about the atmosphere with a piano player and costumed waitresses. Supposedly there are still bullets in the walls from former shootouts but we found out about this later on, at …
Ghost Walk Durango. This certainly wasn’t as “scary” as some of the ghost tours we’ve done before (this is an activity we try to do on every vacation) mostly because we couldn’t enter any of the buildings or get too close. But it was informative about local history, and we enjoyed it.
Day 3 – Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad
This historic train ride was one of the reasons we came to Durango and certainly a highlight. To travel to Silverton via this scenic route you have to make reservations well in advance. It takes 3.5 hours each way and with a 2-hour layover it takes the entire day. However, you do not get tired of looking at this perfect mountain, stream scenery. It is truly spectacular.
There are several car options but we chose the “silver vista” which was open air and had a windowed ceiling. I think the views had to be the best from this car. We had a hour or so of regret of car choice when it was sleeting. But this eventually gave way to the spectacular sun, and we were happy again, especially because it also included an attendant who brought us drinks, alcoholic or hot chocolate, or both!
Durango has so many other attractions, restaurants, shops that we didn’t get to experience because we were on a tight schedule and had to drive on to our next amazing stop…stay tuned…