Durango and Silverton Railroad a Travel Adventure in Colorado!

 

Do you love taking a historic and scenic train ride?  Colorado has many, and my husband and I have made a point of taking a ride on them all. I have twelve train rides featured on my blog under the label Colorado Railroads, beginning with this post and continuing back to the first one we took ten years ago.  Each train ride offers wonderful views and experiences.  We typically enjoy these train rides during the fall season when the stunning colors of the Colorado aspen trees enhance the beauty of each journey. and the Durango Silverton Narrow Gage Railroad was no exception!  This time of the year is also around our anniversary and we celebrated number 49 this year!

We began our journey by driving from our area of the Colorado Front Range to Durango, Colorado which is located in South West Colorado in the San Juan Mountian region.  There is so much to see and do in Durango but our time was limited on this trip so we were there primarily to take the round-trip train ride that we scheduled ahead of time. The train fills up quickly this time of year so it is best to make advance reservations. We chose the 9-hour roundtrip journey (includes a 2-hour Silverton layover), but there are other shorter options if desired, and special train rides such as the upcoming Holiday Polar Express train ride that begins in November and ends at the end of December.

My husband and I reserved our seats on the open-air Gondola Car as we enjoyed seeing the sights from all sides of the train and having the flexibility to move around the car.   The Gondola Car had an outward-facing bench on both sides as assigned seats but there was a lot of flexibility to take photos and I took hundreds!  I made these photo collages to make sharing them much easier. to see more detail each collage can be clicked on and it will enlarge. As the Durango Silverton Train left Durango we passed, businesses, homes, farms, and ranches as well as the Durango Hot Springs area.

As the train rose higher and higher up into the San Juan Mountains we saw beautiful vistas and autumn color.  The train follows the Animas River route and crosses over and around the river five times during its journey.  You can watch a video short I took of the train climbing up into the mountains on this YouTube link or on my Mille Fiori Facebook page at this link.

The scenery was breathtaking!

The colorful fall foliage, the vast San Juan Mountain vistas, and the icy blue/green Animas River views were stunning!

At one point the train stopped at a mountain resort and some backpackers disembarked to hike. we also saw a man zip by on a zip line-- see the last photo in the lower right in the collage above.  If you'd like to see a short video reel of more of the train ride on my Mille Fiori Facebook link Click Here--make sure to turn on the sound on the video to hear the sound of the steam train and the train whistle at the end of the video--it is very iconic and a bit romantic to me.

The terminus of the train ride is the historic gold mining town of Silverton. which is nestled in the San Juan Mountains at an elevation of 9,3018 feet (2,840.1264 meters)

During our round-trip train ride, we had a two-hour layover in Silverton where we enjoyed a nice lunch and took a walk around town to visit the shops.

Silverton Mountain is a thrilling year-round destination for skiing enthusiasts. The mountain boasts of over 400 inches (1016 centimeters) of hefty snowfall during winter, leaving the trails ungroomed. The current advertising campaign aptly describes the experience as "all thrills and no frills." However, the recent acquisition of the Silverton Mountain area by Aspen Travel Adventure Company may lead to changes beyond the current offerings.

Our train ride back to Durango was equally scenic.

We ended the day with a delicious dinner in the Diamond Belle Saloon at the historic Strater Hotel in Durango, where the diners were serenaded by a wonderful Ragtime Paino Player during dinner.  It was a wonderful way to begin our 49th anniversary! 

The next day we took a drive on the famous "Million Dollar Highway," US 550. from Durango to Ouray, Colorado. Photos will be in my next post, where you will see how it may have gotten its nickname.

You can also find me on:

Instagram  Facebook 

Pinterest

I'm linking with:

 Mosaic Monday, Blue Monday, Through My Lens Monday, Hearth, and Soul Link Party, You Are the Star Blog Hop, Inspire Me Monday, Nature Notes, Home Matters Linky Party, Senior Salon Pit Stop, Good Random Fun,  Happiness Is Homemade, Ruby Tuesday,  Tuesdays With A Twist, Wordless Wednesday on a Tuesday, Wordless Wednesday,  Wednesday My Corner of the World, Wonderful Wednesday, Little Things Thursday, Thursday Encouraging Hearts and Home,  Thursday Favorite Things, Skywatch Friday, Friendship Fridays,  Fantastic Friday, Pink Saturday, Saturday Sparks, Sunday on Silverado