Hesperus Ski Area - 4 Things to Know Before Visiting

La Plata Canyon is located west of Durango in the San Juan National Forest area of southwest Colorado. Rugged mountains and snow-melt waterfalls await visitors to this verdant, river-cut canyon.Although this trail is not singletrack, it offers nice views and wildflowers the further up you go, making the climb worth it. This trail is approximately 9.25 miles in length from the main parking area and gains over 2,800 feet.

Smelter Mountain is part of the La Plata Mountains range which is a subset of the Rocky Mountains of North America. Smelter Mountain rises over 1,200 ft above the town, and the lower slope of the mountain was home to the Durango smelter, hence the name of the mountain. A 1.2 mile hiking trail leads to the summit, and other recreational activities include hunting and paragliding.

Lake Nighthorse is a reservoir created by the 270 feet high Ridges Basin Dam southwest of Durango in La Plata County Colorado.The lake is full and the surface area is approximately 1,500 acres at maximum elevation and the reservoir area includes a total of approximately 5,500 acres. The reservoir site is two miles from downtown Durango and provides a significant recreational amenity to the area.

The Camp Bird Mine was a gold and silver mine located in Ouray County. It was one of the most productive mines in the San Juans, and at its peak, it employed over 400 workers. The mine operated for over 20 years, until it was finally closed in 1991. During its time, the Camp Bird Mine produced over $50 million worth of gold and silver. Today, the mine is a popular tourist attraction, and visitors can take a tour of the tunnels and see the equipment that was used to extract the precious metals.

This is an interactive science center located in Durango, Colorado. The plant was a very early alternating current power plant, the power we use today, meaning the town of Durango had AC powered street lights before many large cities in the East. The renovated Mission-style powerhouse is a state and national historic place. Today, the original boiler room remains intact and serves as the science center's theater.

Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Train provides historic and entertaining vintage train rides to the public year round. It is a 3 ft narrow-gauge heritage railroad that operates on 45.2 mi of track between Durango and Silverton, in the U.S. state of Colorado. The railway is a federally-designated National Historic Landmark and was also designated by the American Society of Civil Engineers as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1968.