Durango Colorado: An Outdoor Lover's Paradise

When we thought we were moving to Colorado we were considering two towns. Colorado Springs and Durango. Let me tell you why Durango won by a landslide!

A little about Durango:

Location: Its about 6 hours from Denver and 7 hours from Phoenix. This is a desirable little town of 8,000 people. They do have a regional airport which will be more expensive than an international airport. They only downside is that it far from other parts of Colorado, but that is also part of the allure! If you want a more rural town away from the world, this is it. Rent and property prices are also much more expensive here and for good reason!

Activities: There is tons of outdoor activities including hiking, biking, cross country skiing and they have Purgatory Ski Resort just 30min from town! When none of the other ski resorts have any snow, Purgatory is where you go! They have snow almost all year round! What make Durango unique is the Animas River that flows through town! Without this, I think Durango would be similar to a lot of mountain towns. This really makes it in my opinion!

Since Durango was founded in 1880 there is so much historic charm especially in the down town area. Their Downtown area is so freaking cute! I wish I had more town to walk the shops.

Weather: Durango receives around 71" of snow annually. However, they also average 266 sunny days a year!

How to Spend 24 Hours in Durango:

Farmers Market:

If you're anything like us you love a good farmers Market. Durango has theirs on Saturdays from 9am-12:00PM. They had great food and coffee a tons of organic homemade products. When we first arrived we were greeted by the Train which runs right through town.

Where to eat lunch:

We are carnivores so when we travel we love trying the local BBQ. After some quick research it looked like Serious Texas BBQ was the best in the area. We ate at the location on Main Street which we loved because there was outdoor seating with perfect views of the Animas River! Overall the food was 8/10. The only downside the ribs only come in sauce and we normally do no sauce. It was still pretty good and we would eat here again if in the area!

Animas River Trail:

Probably the best part about Durango is the Animas River! The Animas River trail is a 7 mile paved trail that runs through town away from vehicle traffic. You'll many parks and cross several bridges, community rec center, a children's museum, and a fish hatchery! There are two access points to the walking path. The North access is the intersection of 32nd Street and East 3rd Ave and the South Access Point is at River Road South Escalante drive.

Float: We only walked a short while from the North Access Point until we found a spot to jump in the river! It was so refreshing and not even too cold! We watched everyone float the river in their inflatable tubes. If you wanted to do this there are several places to rent tubes from including Mild to Wild Rafting and Jeep Tours and Southwest Raft and Jeep.

Walk Historic Downtown:

I really wish we had more time to explore the downtown area! When I say Durango is full of charm THIS is what I mean. I was blown away, and keep in mind I am from a historic town that has cute historic downtown but Durango was my hometown on a next level!

Durango Coffee Company: First thing first, coffee. TRUST ME when I say you NEED to go to Durango Coffee Company The vibes and coffee were unmatched. But seriously the vibes!!! I would love to work on my laptop here. The atmosphere was amazing and Dustin drinks coffee black so when he says the coffee is so good, you can trust him!

Strater Hotel: When I was researching what to do in Durango the Strater Hotel keep coming up. I wasn't planning on visiting because even though I love antique and historic buildings I would pass for other activities. We ended up taking our coffee across the street to check out the lobby and I am so glad we did!! This hotel is SO elegant. We quite literally stepped back in time. This hotel makes me think that this much of been for the elite because I have been in many historic hotels but you could tell this one was much more expensive. I would love to stay a night here. They also have a restaurant which smelled great.

Train to Silverton: This is a historic legit steam engine trail from Durango to Silverton! We didn't get to do this because the entire ride is about 3 1/2 hours each way with a 2 hour layover in Silverton but if we had an extra day we would've! Pro-Tip: book an open car for the best views! The Adult Fare starts at $117 for adults and $106 for children (ages 4-11)

You can book your Train here!

Hiking!: Again since we didn't have much time we were able to (attempt) one hike! I saw attempt because with Dustin in an arm sling, this hikes required both hands. I was sketched out and wanted to turn back because it was right on the edge and one slip or wrong foot placement and you would just fall down the hill.

Attempt at your own Risk: Cascade Creek Falls

Length: 0.5mi Elevation Gain: 144ft Average time: 30min-1hr      Difficulty: Moderate

This hike is about 30minutes from Durango but the drive is a beautiful one at that!! We chose this one because its short and we thought it would be easy and there's an iconic waterfall at the end. but I was wrong! We even pasted a memorial for someone that it appears they had fallen over the edge. I only managed to get some drone footage for you. Maybe I'm over-reacting, there were some highschoolers that were jogging down the trail. If you've done this trail and survived let me know.

In conclusion, we very much wanted to move here but now we have even better plans ahead! Follow me on Instagram to follow our journey to Life on the Road! I'm telling you what we're doing Step by Step to go from living in an apartment in Scottsdale to living an Traveling full time in an RV! :) :)