Bar D Chuckwagon

The Bar D Chuckwagon Supper Show offers family entertainment with stage show and supper under the red cliffs north of Durango, Colorado. After enjoying steak or BBQ, the Bar D Wranglers perform their famous old-west music stage show with cowboy songs, comedy, and lively instruments. The restaurant, stage show, shops, train, and activities are set in an old-west cowboy village under the red cliffs North of Durango, Colorado.

Website: www.bardchuckwagon.com

Center for Southwest Studies

The Center of Southwest Studies at Fort Lewis College connects individuals and communities with opportunities to explore, study, and experience the Southwest's dynamic heritage.

Website: swcenter.fortlewis.edu

Chimney Rock Archeological Area

Chimney Rock is a San Juan National Forest Archaeological Area located in Colorado between Durango and Pagosa Springs and managed for archaeological protection, public interpretation, and education.

Website: www.chimneyrockco.org

Durango and Silverton Train

This historic train has been in continuous operation for 128 years, carrying passengers behind vintage steam locomotives and rolling stock indigenous to the line. Relive the sights and sounds of yesteryear for a spectacular journey on board the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad.

Website: www.durangotrain.com

Durango Art Center

Created and sustained by the people of the Four Corners region, the Durango Arts Center promotes the exploration, education, enrichment and enjoyment of the arts.

Website: durangoarts.org

Durango Mountain Resort

Downhill skiing and more during the winter, world-class mountain biking in the summer.

Website: www.durangomountainresort.com

Durango Soaring Club

Durango Soaring Club has been treating passengers to the thrill of silent flight since 1976. Scenic Glider Rides: Sailplanes are towed aloft to a pre-selected altitude and then released. As you soar like an eagle back to the gliderport, you will be able to see the beautiful San Juan Mountains, plus the Animas River winding through the valley and (on a clear day) 100 miles of scenery in any direction.

Website: www.soardurango.com

Full Blast Adventures

Overlooking beautiful Durango, Colorado, this 3 hour adventure will take you and your family Zipping through the trees on a network of cables suspended high above the forest floor. It's safe, yet fast, fun and exhilarating!

20673 Hwy 160 West
Durango,  CO  81301
970-759-9880
Website: http://www.ziplinedurangoco.com/durango-zipline.html

Mesa Verde National Park

Mesa Verde, Spanish for green table, offers a spectacular look into the lives of the Ancestral Pueblo people who made it their home for over 700 years, from A.D. 600 to A.D. 1300. Today, the park protects over 4,000 known archeological sites, including 600 cliff dwellings. These sites are some of the most notable and best preserved in the United States.

Website: www.nps.gov/meve

Music in the Mountains Festival

Music in the Mountains is Southwest Colorado's premier three-week classical music festival. The festival will be celebrating its 25th Anniversary season featuring orchestra, chamber and conservatory performances of classical and world music. A host of concerts and events are slated in venues set in spectacular southwest Colorado this coming season.

Website: www.musicinthemountains.com

San Juan National Forest

The San Juan Public Lands encompass some 2.5 million acres managed by the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, stretching across five Colorado counties in the southwestern corner of the state. This terrain ranges from high-desert mesas to alpine peaks, with thousands of miles of back roads and hundreds of miles of trails to explore. These federal lands are managed for multiple uses; visitors are asked to respect each other and the natural resources.

Website: www.fs.fed.us/r2/sanjuan

San Juan Scenic Byway

The byway passes through the heart of five million acres of both the San Juan and Uncompahgre National Forests. Traveling the length of the byway will take you through high mountain passes and historical towns, and by waterfalls and acres of wildflowers. In autumn, the aspen trees turn brilliant colors. Sunset Magazine recognized the area's superior beauty by writing, "The San Juan Skyway... possibly America's greatest fall-color drive...its Aspen views are alternately breathtaking and intimate."

Website: www.coloradodirectory.com/maps/skyway.html

Sky Ute Casino

Visit our 45,000 square foot gaming floor including slots, poker/blackjack, craps, roulette, and bingo. Choose from one of five unique restaurants to dine in, take your shot at striking it rich in the Rolling Thunder Lanes, and immerse yourself in the culture of the Southern Ute people.

Website: www.skyutecasino.com

Soaring Tree Top Adventures

Soaring Tree Top Adventures is an all-day family-friendly zipline adventure in the Durango mountains that is fun and safe for all ages. The package includes first-class train transportation, 24 zipline spans and a gourmet lunch in the trees.

970-769-2357
Website: soaringcolorado.com info@soaringcolorado.com

Southern Ute Cultural Center

The Southern Ute Cultural Center in Ignacio is a museum devoted to the history and culture of the Ute people.

Website: www.succm.org

Trimble Hot Springs

Trimble Spa and Natural Hot Springs is Durango, Colorado's only hot spring, massage and lodging center. We're located five miles north of Durango, on US Highway 550, within millions of acres of outdoor fun. Open to the public year-round, our two saunas and naturally heated mineral-rich hot pools are therapeutic and relaxing. Families love our poolside lawn and the biggest heated, outdoor swimming pool in town (open Apr-Oct). The lawn is great for picnics and sunbathing to receptions and reunions, or just reading a good book. Combine soaking with sauna and a selection of more than 20 massage and body treatments, and you're sure to leave rejuvenated and ready to take the world on again.

Website: www.trimblehotsprings.com

Vallecito Lake

Sheltered in a secluded mountain valley 8,000 feet above sea level, Vallecito Lake is one of the largest and most beautiful bodies of water in Colorado. Vallecito, Spanish for "Little Valley", and ancestral home to many of Colorado's Ute Indians, became the name of the sparkling waters of the lake it surrounded. Located in the Southwestern part of the state just 18 miles from Durango, Vallecito provides a perfect base for enjoying the Four Corners area and its many wonders.

Vallecito Reservoir (known locally as Vallecito Lake) is a Use Fee area and permits can be purchased at most area businesses, marinas or the Pine River Irrigation District (PRID) office. The PRID office is located below Vallecito Dam at 13029 County Road 501, Bayfield, CO 81122. Phone 970-884-2558 or email prid@qwestoffice.net for additional information.

Vallectio Reservoir Use Fee Information

Boating Permits

$7.50 for five days
$20 for an annual permit

Recreation Permits Per Vehicle

$3 daily
$15 for two weeks
$30 for an annual permit

Group Use Picnic Area

(Kaa-Vi Nuu-ci Tuvu-pu = Mountain Utes Lands)
$30 daily use fee plus a $100 refundable deposit
Reservation only: contact Pine River Irrigation District (PRID)

Website: www.vallecitolakechamber.com

Weminuche Wilderness

The Weminuche Wilderness offers spectacular examples of dramatically different mountain landscapes. The granitic Needle Mountains in the western end of the wilderness contain its three 14,000 foot peaks as well as equally inspiring summits, such as Arrow and Vesatal peaks in the nearby Grenadier Range. To The south, limestone mesas slope gently towards the high summits,. Farther east are ragged peaks and soaring cliffs, formed over millions of years as volcanic eruptions covered the landscape. Several periods of glaciation later creating the dozens of cirque lakes (63 to be precise) that dot the high country. The Animas River gorge cuts through the westernmost segment of the wilderness, beneath the distinctive metamorphic peaks of the West Needle Mountains. Thousands of tourists annually marvel at the area's beauty from the clacking cars of the Durango - Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, which parallels the river, climbing precipitously to the walls of the narrow canyon.

Website: www.coloradowilderness.com/wildpages/weminuche.html