Eat, Stay and Play in Historic Downtown Durango where you will find beautiful hotels, friendly shops and first class restaurants. Take a stroll through the streets and marvel at the historic buildings and unique shops, sip a gourmet cup of coffee or enjoy some of the rich arts and culture of downtown. You will not be disappointed in the realness of this authentic and cheery downtown scene.
• Duranglers
• General Palmer Hotel
• Best Western Rio Grande Inn
• The Gable House B&B
• Durango Lodge
• Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad
• Animas Museum
• Outlaw Tours
A stroll down Durango’s Main Avenue is a sensory treat: the Colorado air is crisp and subtly scented by restaurant and café delicacies; on most days the sun streams through the streets, intensifying the colorful store-front awnings and highlighting the neighboring mountain ridge. Streets are a bustle with commerce and visitors mingling in every-day transactions. Smiles and friendly greetings are commonplace along the downtown’s Main Avenue, where it is safe to walk and explore at all hours, day and night.
The Boomtown Years
Now, flash back 126 years ago when settlers were flocking to the San Juan Mountains in the hopes of striking it rich in gold, silver, and copper. The Denver & Rio Grande Railroad was founded by William Jackson Palmer, and around the railroad, a city was born. Palmer had big plans for Durango. He envisioned a town that would deliver an exceptional “quality of life” in a visually appealing and commerce drawing lay out. Plans consisted of the Main Avenue serving “wholesale” interests and the residential Third Avenue sprawling parallel to Main with a scenic median of planted trees and vegetation.
Downtown Historic District
 Today Downtown Durango is a Nationally Registered Historic District, with something special in store for each visitor. The downtown area has been coined “The living room of the Durango community” by voices of the Durango Business Improvement District, who have a 20-year revitalization plan in store for historic downtown that began in 1997. Downtown Durango is a central part of the city’s allure, business, and history, and Durango leaders intend to continually nurture the beautiful historic district.
What To Do Downtown
Visitors can find something exciting happening downtown throughout the four seasons. Durango is a hidden gem for spectacular outdoor and cultural festivals. Snowdown is a classic Durango winter celebration that has offered much merriment for locals and visitors alike for 27 years. Outdoor enthusiasts can enjoy challenges like The Iron Horse Classic, a road and mountain bike tournament scheduled each Memorial Day, or the Durango Double, a weekend of trail and road marathons back-to-back (not for the weak of heart). Cultural festivals of all sorts abound, including the bluegrass Durango Meltdown festival, the Cowboy Gathering, the Summer Jazz festival, the beer and music extravaganza Oktoberfest, the holiday Holidazzle celebration, the Durango Arts Festival, and many more!
Durango Business Improvement District
The Durango Business Improvement Districts offers event marketing grants to various local groups to help promote their events. Events throughout the year included are:
Bounty of the County, a nonprofit event formerly called Taste of La Plata , is in its 18th year celebrating local agricultural producers and the foods they produce. The feast of local food is also a way to bring city and county residents together.
The Iron Horse Bicycle Classic was the brain child of Tom and Jim Mayer. Jim worked as an engineer on the D & R G W railroad which ran the steam powered locomotive between Durango and Silverton since the 1880's. Tom challenged Jim, a young bicycle enthusiast, to a race to Silverton, so as the train came by the house, the steam whistle would scream and Tom would climb on his trusty old steel framed 10 speed and pedal up over the rim of the old volcano and descend into the caldera to the mining town of Silverton.
Over the years several additional events have been added to the classic train race -- criteriums, circuit races, road races, tours, BMX races, Trials, dual slaloms, team trail rides, and Mountain Bike Races -- a full weekend of events every Memorial Day weekend for the past 31 years. 14,000 people nestled in the mountains of Southwest Colorado www.ironhorsebicycleclassic.com
Durango Cowboy Gathering is an exciting, fun-filled event with evening performances and Saturday daytime sessions. Poets and musicians from throughout the country grace our intimate stage at the Diamond Circle Theatre, performing classic and contemporary poems and songs that will bring tears to your eyes and keep you in stitches www.durangocowboygathering.org
Music in the Mountains Beginning in 1987 with 11 musicians, Music in the Mountains has grown to a three-week festival featuring musicians from around the world and offering orchestral, chamber, conservatory, and Pops concerts. Free performances for children and their families are featured during the Festival. http://www.musicinthemountains.com/
Durango Meltdown - One of the nation's premier indoor bluegrass festivals, Durango Meltdown has been a traditional bluegrass venue for up and coming national bluegrass bands and local and regional talent for over 15 years. 2010 marks the 16th anniversary of the Bluegrass festival which includes after hours jamming, specialized workshops, genre-specific dancing and more throughout three indoor venues in downtown Durango. For more information on Durango Meltdown, visit www.durangomeltdown.com
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Durango, Colorado is an outdoor enthusiast's dream! With over 300 days of clear blue sky, Durango offers vacationers unlimited adventure; fly fish the Animas River, ride thru the Rockies or hike the Colorado Trail thru the San Juan National Forest. What are you waiting for!
Since 1983 Duranglers has been the region's source for custom guided fly fishing trips, equipment, flies and information.
Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad has been in continuous operation for over a century.What better place to remember railroading than a place that has never forgotten it?
Downtown Durango thrives with over 500 shops. Recently voted one of the nation's top "Christmas Towns," Durango offers a multitude of unique diners, coffee houses, and boutiques. A vacation to Durango is a treat for everyone... from extreme the skiers, to anglers, to foodies, to mountain bikers, and yes, to shopaholics.
"HOLiDAZZLE" is the name for the seasonal shopping blitz that happens every year just after Thanksgiving. Shoppers flock to Durango to enjoy the seasonal splendor throughout Christmas season. Plan now to be enchanted by this charming downtown.
Shoppers receive special treats, and music fills the air during HOLiDAZZLE. Each shopping bag gets filled with a musical treat.
The Historic Downtown business district of Durango charms everyone who strolls the sidewalks. Each quaint storefront is a feast for the eyes. Plate lunch diners and chic bakeries offer a relaxing break for avid shoppers.
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