Durango, Colorado: “The Best Little City in the USA”

Durango is located near the Colorado-New Mexico border in what is called the Four Corners area of the United States (the only place in the country where four states come together).  The area is known as Colorado’s banana belt because you drive through high desert until you hit the Colorado border 20 miles south of town. From that point on you meander up the Animas River Valley through a collection of spectacular Old West style ranches until you arrive in Durango. The town of Durango itself is nestled in the Animas River Valley, just before it heads into the San Juan Mountains.

This ideal location accounts for an almost perfect four-season climate with mild winters and over 300 days of sunshine. Durango typically receives only 20 inches of rain per year, yet it stays green all summer due to afternoon thunderstorms in the hot months of July and August.

Sports are a major part of everyone’s life in Durango. Here you can arrange for rafting, fly fishing, gliding, kayaking, mountain biking, backpacking, hunting, fishing, or rock climbing lessons, just to name a few of the many available sports activities.

If you’re not an extreme sports buff, attend a computer or art class at Fort Lewis College. Or explore the ancient ruins of the Ancestoral Pueblo People at Mesa Verde National Park or ride the Narrow Gauge Train to Silverton for lunch. How about skiing Durango Mountain Resort in the morning and then driving back downtown to play golf or tennis in the afternoon!

People come from all over the Four Corners to sample Durango’s many fine restaurants or to visit the many art galleries and chic downtown shops. When you take a stroll, people smile and say hello. Cowboys mix with doctors at the authentic Diamond Belle Saloon. Nobody gives a hoot what you drive.

The spectacular Animas River runs right through the heart of downtown Durango. Kayakers and river rafters float by during the day. Deer hop your fence at night to eat your flowers. Canada geese fly overhead. Elk graze in peace at the city limits.

The closest urban area is four hours away. No one would think twice about walking alone at midnight. We are looking forward to seeing you soon!

Durango History

Durango. It’s where ranches, rolling hills, breathtaking beauty and a storytelling river harkens back to the days when people had the time, and took the time, to slow down and simply visit, with their family, their neighbors and, on a good day, themselves.

The Ancestral Pueblo People were the first settlers in the Four Corners area. They mysteriously vanished around 1300 AD. Next were the Navajo and Ute Indians, claiming western Colorado as their home in the 16th century. The Spanish explorers visited the area in 1776, naming the river upon which Durango is located Rio de Las Animas Perdidas, the River of Lost Souls, now called the Animas. Former Territorial Governor, A.C. Hunt named the Durango area after Durango, Mexico, a name meaning “water town”.

Durango was not founded as a result of pioneers looking for gold, but by the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, which decided to build a depot 1.5 miles south of Animas City, then a bustling town of 300 people. The first stake was driven in 1880.

Except for a few small stores, restaurants, and saloons, Durango was mainly a box tent town. A narrow gauge steam engine connected the mining town of Silverton with the coal and smelter operations in Durango.

The Durango & Silverton Train

The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad remains in operation today as a popular tourist attraction. Durango reflects three cultures: Anglo, Hispanic, and Native American.

Only in Durango, Colorado can you go back in time onboard the famous Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad! Relive history with the sights and sounds of yesteryear for a truly spectacular journey onboard the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad.

Experience the adventure of traveling by coal-fired, steam-powered locomotive on the same tracks that carried the miners, cowboys, and settlers of the Old West over a century ago.

The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad winds through spectacular and breathtaking canyons in the remote wilderness of the two million acre San Juan National Forest for an unforgettable year-round adventure.