Week Trip in Durango

We chose to stay at an Air B&B close to downtown Durango, which was a pricey option but accommodated our large family, plus a dog. 

Day 1:

We hiked to Potato Lake via Spud Lake trail, a 3 mile out and back trail about 30 minutes north of Durango. The road out to the trail head is very rough, you'll want a high clearance vehicle like a truck or a large SUV. Potato Lake is a great place to swim as well. It was a nice hike, moderate in difficulty. It was slightly smokey this day but we still enjoyed the hike.

That night, we had some leftovers down at the Animas River which flows through town. There are plenty of picnic tables and areas to enjoy the river.

Day 2:

We spent most of the day working at the Smiley Cafe. This is a great place to work, plenty of tables and other people working as well. Fast wifi, plus good coffee, tea, and food. 

In the afternoon, I went horseback riding with Over the Hill Outfitters. They offer 1 hour rides to all day rides. I'd recommend this experience!

Tequila's Mexican Restaurant was our dinner choice. We had plenty of leftovers for the next day and the food was really good.

Day 3:

For breakfast we went to Durango Bagels. They made us some great bagel sandwiches. 

Today we went up Horse Gulch. This is a fantastic biking area, though we chose to hike. There are plenty of trails crisscrossing all over the hills and you can go all day or for a short walk depending on what you'd want. I'd recommend looking up a map to pick your route. We made it up to the ridge by the end of the hike (about 4 miles - though you can easily shorten it) which gave beautiful views of Durango and the valley to the east. 

For dinner, we went to Derailed Pour House. I highly recommend this dinner spot, it's a really cool restaurant and we all had delicious food. They had great cocktails and beer too (I had the Derailed Lemonade - yum!).

Day 4:

This day we went to Jean Pierre Bakery and got some croissants and macaroons (they were AMAZING!). We also went for a walk along the Animas River where our dog thoroughly enjoyed going for a swim. 

Day 5:

In the early morning we went fishing on the Animas River. There are several places in town that you can choose to go with a guide or buy/rent gear, but we brought our gear and went on our own. 

In the afternoon, we visited Mesa Verde National Park (30 miles from Durango) to check out the cliff dwellings. We did the 6 mile driving tour, Mesa Top Loop Road, as well as the Petroglyph Trail (2.4 mile). The petroglyph panel is really interesting. There are many other trails available in the area so I'd recommend researching and finding which ones seem most interesting to you. There are also tours that you can book.