“USA 🇺🇸 ~Colorado in Durango at the Hot Springs, Fun with Scooters in the Historic District and on the Animas River Trail!”

• September 10, 2022
• By Pen
• 0 Comment

We arrived in Durango from up north in Montrose. We are located a few miles from the town, but right across the road from the Durango Hot Springs and Spa.
We came here to enjoy our final stop in Colorado and to visit Mesa Verde National Park, go on the Steam Engine Vintage Train Ride, see the historic town, maybe ride horses and a stagecoach, go to a chuck wagon cook-out and breath in the surrounding beauty. We are near enough to Pagosa Springs, we will make a day trip there, too! 
So far so good!

I spent my first full day here, on line, making reservations for just about everything we want to do. It was a lot to figure out, and must say that National Park visits at least, shouldn’t be that difficult. We are here till mid October and glad we have flexibility on dates. Mesa Verde is a 50 minute drive away and when I was there before, I picked  a sunny day, arrived in the morning and walked right into the ranger guided tours (required to go into the Anasazi dwellings) and climbed up or down into the sites. Now, you must make a reservation in advance, and pay for it, when you don’t know the weather for a day, when there is availability. We are a party of two, and sometimes there is only one ticket left. 🙄 The same is running true for the Durango-Silverton -Durango Steam Engine Train Ride. Lots of single seats available. We can’t go till the end of the month, in what I call the cheap seats, but are still costly! How does a families of five do this? And, we are past the summer calendar!
So, just be aware of these things. I will provide links for reservations, as we share these activities.

Durango Hot Tub and Spa ⬇️

Hot Springs are present in many locations around Colorado. A good soak in mineral water never hurts, and we picked Durango to pamper in, since we could walk to these pools.
We paid $39 pp for 2.5 hours of enjoying various pool settings and temperatures; all outside. Bring your own towel, as they are unable to provide them now, due to C19, but they will happily sell you towels at $14 each.
We enjoyed our time soaking and visiting with others doing the same for sone of our time there. It was clean and the views were great!
We haven’t gotten a couples massage yet. The weather this time of the year, here, has rain, and if lucky, a few sunny mornings. 

The Durango Hot Springs’ campus encompasses 16 natural mineral hot spring soaking pools. 4 of these mineral pools are adjacent to the swimming pool and are open to families. The additional 12 mineral pools on the western slope are for adult users. The new zero-entry, 100,000 gallon, resort-style pool was designed with a gradual slope to a depth of 4’6″ It is connected to one of the four family-friendly mineral pools and can be shared by all with times for swimming, exercise, and training.

https://durangohotspringsresortandspa.com/

*********
Historic Downtown Durango ⬇️

The night before we saw a sunny morning coming up, Mr Terrific charged up our scooters.
After we loaded them; “we as in he,” 🙃 we were race-ready, the next day.
We parked the vehicle on the tree-lined E 3rd Street, with no metered parking.  From there, we scootered along the sidewalk, enjoying the pretty shady park, vintage homes, and their manicured lawns. 
By the time we got to the Historic Downtown area, we turned off the scooters and ambled through on the sidewalks, pushing our scooters. As soon as shops began to open, we enjoyed looking in a few and then stopping for coffee.
The day temperatures are quite warm, still; around 90, but nighttime is cooler, in the 50’s. 

Where Old West meets the Southwest, Downtown Durango is a Nationally Registered Historic District and home to historic boutique hotels, award winning restaurants, laid-back brewpubs, and fabulous art galleries, museums, and shops. The mining and railroad history are still written everywhere, in and around Durango. It’s no wonder why Hollywood continues making movies in our secret slice of heaven that is the San Juan Mountains.

Hundreds of gold miners had camped out in this area in 1860. But, within a year of its founding, in 1880, Durango had a population of 2,400 and really began to grow.
People arrived from many countries to work in the smelters and mines and on the railroad.
By the turn of the century, Durango had become a vacation destination, with the creation of the San Juan National Forest in 1905 and Mesa Verde National Park in 1906.
The population of the city of Durango doubled to 4,686 by 1910.

The Denver and Rio Grande Railroad Company formed Durango along the banks of the Animas River in September 1880 to serve the San Juan mining district. Lots of silver (and later, even more of gold) was being discovered in the mountains ever since gold fever struck in 1872 and resulted in the settlement of mining towns like Silverton, 50 miles north. Durango had a more tolerable climate and a good supply of water and coal for operating the smelters to pull precious metals out of the ore.
The railroad company chose a site south of the town of Animas City for its depot. It bought up the land in the eventual downtown Durango area using various different names to conceal what it was doing. The land was purchased for less money this way. When the train steamed through Animas City on its way north in 1881, it didn’t even stop there!

Today, tourism is an important aspect of Durango’s economy (along with recreation, natural resources development, education, government and business) ….and the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, which continues to run on the spectacular narrow gauge railroad that was carved through the mountainsides along the Animas River Valley more than a century ago.

⬆️⬇️ The Historic Strater Hotel was built in 1887; (Historic Hotel of America Founding Member) and is one of the West’s iconic hotels and a prominent downtown Durango, Colorado landmark, located two blocks north of the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad; one hour from Mesa Verde National Park, several hours from the Four Corners Monument, and deep in the heart of the rugged San Juan Mountains and the San Juan Scenic Skyway.
The Strater Hotel is adorned with beautiful handcrafted woodwork, period wallpaper, and the largest collection of American Victorian walnut antiques which are used to decorate the hotel and guest rooms.
Operated for 95 years by the Barker family, and now under the ownership of Ross Garrett and family, the Strater Hotel invites you to experience the best of the Old West and an iconic Durango, Colorado hotel.

When we come back to town in the car, I want to go inside this hotel and get some pictures. I will add the pics to this blog, when we do so.

Durango, Colorado was named after Durango, Mexico.
As the story goes, Colorado’s former territorial governor A. C. Hunt was traveling through Durango, Mexico at the time when the name for the new town was being decided, and thought the two regions looked similar. The word Durango originates from the Basque word “Urango” meaning “water town” or “well watered place.” There is also a Durango, Spain. The three Durangos are sister cities and have exchanged gifts and formal visits of their officials.

*********
From Downtown, we headed for the Animas River Trail ⬇️

Well done, Durango! The trail is all concrete, and only a few blocks from downtown. There are several bridges to cross back and forth on, with multiple parks; all the while enjoying the view of the river.
It was not crowded and we easily zipped along! 

Native Americans had camped along the banks of the Animas River for thousands of years. Archaeologists have found evidence that this area experienced a population boom in the latter part of the 8th century; about 1,200 years ago.
Some think more people lived here then, than now!
By the time the Ute Indians settled here, centuries later, these ancient Ancestral Puebloans known as Anasazi, had mysteriously disappeared from their last homeland; including the area now called Mesa Verde National Park.
When the Spanish explorers: Dominguez and Escalante passed through on August 9, 1776, whilst the American War of Independence was beginning on the East Coast, the Animas River had already been named El Río de las Ánimas.

The Animas River rises in the San Juan Mountains and runs 126 miles through Colorado and New Mexico, before dumping into the San Juan River in Farmington, New Mexico.
Along this 126 mile course, the Animas River fills Lake Nighthorse; a reservoir that serves the Southern Ute tribal area.

Got that photo mid-flight!
It would appear the mama could leap over with some effort, and the newest baby walked between the fence rails. Last year’s baby or babies, were reluctant to jump, but could no longer fit between the fence railing, either. We watched for awhile and moved on, so they could all come together, again.

⬆️ See the baby? So cute!
Wait for me! 

⬆️ The struggle was real, as it’s sloped and rocky, so no running jump. Mom stood and leapt. ….Youngster was not so sure 

“Wait… I used to fit through here, not too long ago!”

The fish hatchery is located just north of town off Highway 550, on the west side of the Animas River. It was built in 1903, on 14 acres of land and is the oldest state owned fish hatchery in Colorado.
The primary objective of the hatchery is to keep local rivers and reservoirs stocked with native fish. A nearby natural spring supplies the water for the fish-rearing. The water is treated and given extra oxygen to create ideal conditions for the fish.

Well, we made it on our scooters, near to the Fish Hatchery, when Daryl’s scooter suddenly died, while my scooter battery still read 3/4’s full. We have no idea what went wrong, other than his scooter didn’t charge as long, but we had to hatched a plan… ha! (Pun intended).
We went off the trail and entered the hatchery grounds. From there, I waited on a bench in the shade with the dead scooter. Daryl took my scooter and easily made it the rest of the way, back to the car.
While he was gone, a hunter came in to the Fish and Wildlife center parking lot with his tagged Brown Bear kill, so the rangers could take samples from the animal.
I visited with the men, asked questions and took a few pics.
The brown bear was skinned. It was an old Sow at an age where a hard winter could have done her in.
I decided against posting photos of the freshly skinned bear, but if you contact me, I’m happy to share pics with you, privately. About the time the hunter left with his prize, the big guy came back with the vehicle.
**********
More Photos from Around Durango ⬇️

⬆️ Love their sign! 😂

********