Durango sits in the Animas River Valley in southwest Colorado, surrounded by the San Juan Mountains. It is one of the best outdoor towns in the state — the kind of place where you can raft the Animas in the morning, mountain bike in the afternoon, and eat well downtown in the evening.
The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad is the town's most famous attraction: a steam-powered heritage train that follows the Animas River through spectacular mountain scenery to the old mining town of Silverton. The trains have been running since 1882 and the ride is genuinely thrilling. The downtown Main Avenue Historic District, anchored by the Victorian Strater Hotel, is preserved largely intact from the same boom era.
Mesa Verde National Park, with its extraordinary Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings, is about 35 miles west — an easy day trip. Purgatory ski resort is 25 minutes north for winter visitors. The Animas itself offers gold medal fly fishing and good whitewater rafting through town.