Durango, Colorado-Alpen Rose RV Park

September 24 - October 2, 2016

We spent a fun and busy six days in Durango (really not long enough). We had planned to ride the Durango Silverton train but were holding out on making reservations to see what the weather would be like. And we thought there would be no problem since summer was over and school was back in session. WRONG! They were totally booked! But I think it worked out for the best because that forced us to explore other options. We decided to rent a jeep and explore some of the back 4X4 roads on our own. That meant we could go where we wanted and in our own time.

The kids LOVED it. Just being in a different vehicle was exciting but they really enjoyed the crazy bumpy and wild ride. We saw beautiful scenery, old mine ruins, and old mining ghost towns.

We started started out in Silverton heading toward the Animas Forks. From there, we got onto the Engineer Pass trail. We had read some about this trail and knew that parts of it were quite difficult but our plans were to go the pass, turn back and then turn off before the the MOST difficult 5-mile stretch to Ouray.

So we headed up towards the pass. Let me tell you, this trail is NOT for the faint of heart. Rocky is not quite the right term. There are boulders to drive over! And THEN we hit the snow and slush. Greg did a fantastic job of driving the jeep and knowing how to change the gears and other features to get us through. At about 11,900 feet near Oh Point we all voted to turn back. There were still 3+ miles to go to the pass and it was covered in snow.

(near Oh Point)

We continued on with our plan and turned off toward a little mining town road on our map. BUT the map for this trail just was not detailed enough so we had to turn back. We were getting short on time and so our only option was to continue on the Engineer Pass trail towards Ouray. Greg said, “How can it be any worse than what we just drove through?!”

HAHAHA! It SO was! WOW! It was INTENSE! I learned that it was rated a difficulty level of 4 and that Black Bear Pass that they told us to avoid was a 6. I cannot imagine what a 6 is like if that was a 4! And we were so glad that we did not run into any oncoming traffic because trying to pass or back up would have been just too much.

(In this picture, it looks like we could drive around the boulder in the center but that was

not the case.  We had to go right over that thing!)

I even got a knot on my head when it hit the side of the jeep after going over one of the boulders!

But we made it through the adventure and will definitely try it again (after we learn a little more about the trails)!

The rest of the week was mostly activities I did with the kids since we would be leaving on a Friday.

We went to Mesa Verde National Park to see the cliff dwellings. It was a pretty large park and so we spent a lot of time driving. But we saw a few pithouse remains, village remains and several cliff dwellings.

 (cliff dwelling)

 (pit house)

(village)

They had a nice little museum with dioramas showing the different time period dwellings and other artifacts.

Our next outing was to the Powerhouse Science Center. I was pleasantly surprised by this small museum. The kids found a number of things they were interested in and really took their time exploring them.

And then there was the Durango to Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum. 

It was a free little museum and we only spent maybe an hour there but we checked out a steam engine, some gems and minerals a caboose and some train models. This one was amazingly done all by hand with items the artist had on-hand. Unbelievable!

And one last little thing we did as a family was go to the Diamond Belle Saloon in the historic Strater Hotel for dinner.  It was fun and lively with a ragtime piano player!

Like I said, our time here seemed very short! Time to head to Albuquerque but one last picture of Durango from the Rim Trail.