The two day trips from Durango that everyone makes are Mesa Verde National Park, about 35 miles west, with the largest concentration of Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings in the United States; and Silverton, an old mining town up the Animas River reachable by car (50 miles) or on the heritage railroad. Either fills a day.
Purgatory Mountain ski area is 25 miles north on Highway 550 and worth a chairlift ride in summer for the views. The Weminuche Wilderness east of town has some of the longest, most remote trails in Colorado for those with backcountry experience.
