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About Durango
Durango is a friendly community nestled in the La Plata Mountains in the Southwest corner of Colorado. The city center is at 6,512 feet above sea level and with the La Plata and San Juan Mountains all around, beautiful scenery is certainly one of our many assets. The Animas River flows right down through the center of town and offers excellent trout fishing with parts of the river actually being gold-medal water. The town itself is just over 14,000 people in population of the entire County is approximately 50,000 people. Durango would certainly be the hub of the County and it is the county seat as well.
Because of our very temperate climate (over 300 days of sunshine every year), the low property taxes (a good portion of our taxes are paid for by oil and gas companies in this County ), the beauty of the area and the many things to do, our town is often listed in the “Best Places To… retire, live, build a second home, raise your kids, etc. there's hardly a month that goes by that doesn't find us selected in some magazine for that award.
We are an informal town yet quite sophisticated. I believe it was Will Rogers who said of Durango , “Formal wear in Durango means blue jeans without holes .” We are definitely more laid-back and casual than the big city. If we see somebody on the street wearing a coat and tie we know one of three things: 1 they are visiting Durango for the first time; 2 it's a local and he is going to meet with his banker today; or 3 they are on their way to a funeral.
Bayfield, Ignacio, and Vallecito would be the other towns within our County.
Transportation
Durango is accessed from the North and the South by US Highway 550 and from the East and the West by US Highway 160. These are all weather, all season roads well maintained by the state of Colorado. Air transportation is through the Durango La Plata Airport which is really the regional airport for the entire Southwest corner of the state. We are currently serviced by Frontier Airlines, US Air and United Airlines. Servicing cities are Denver and Phoenix. We receive both jet and turboprop service with the runway close to 11,000 feet in length. The airport is a 20 minute drive from downtown Durango.
Employment
Our County is the largest natural gas producer in the state and as such there are many high-paying jobs in the gas industry. With our four-year college and brand-new $84 million hospital, those two employers add a large amount to our employment base as well. Ignacio is the center of the Southern Ute Indian tribe and the $200 million casino there offers lots of employment opportunities. Agriculture plays a large part in our local economy with lots of grass-hay raised on the numerous ranches that also raise horses and cattle. Being a tourist town with numerous restaurants and hotels, there are plenty of service jobs available, too. We have two industrial parks with a third one breaking ground out near the airport. National headquarters for the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory is right here in Durango as is Mercury Payments which is a major credit card processing company.
Education
There are three school districts in our County: Durango, Bayfield and Ignacio. The Durango school system has seven grade schools, two middle schools and one high school. Four of the grade schools are located outside the city limits and three are located in town. Both middle schools and the high school are in town. These schools score very well when compared to statewide testing that is done in Colorado each year. The Durango High School is considered a 4A size school (second to the largest) for athletic competition. Here is a link to the Durango school district website
Bayfield, which is located 19 miles east of Durango, has one primary school (kindergarten and first grade,) one elementary school (second through fifth grade) , one middle school and one senior high school. Bayfield school district is considered a class 3A size school for athletic competition. Here is a link to the Bayfield school district website.
Ignacio is located about 25 minutes from downtown Durango, South and East of town. It would be 7 to 10 minutes beyond the airport. This is a much smaller school district as the town is less than 1000 residents. Ignacio school district is considered a class 2A size school for athletic competition. Here's a link to the Ignacio school district website.
Fort Lewis College is a four-year fully accredited liberal arts college with an excellent business school, chemistry Department (one of the top 10 in the country I am told) accounting department and educational department that provides teaching certificates for K through 12. There are about 4000 students. It is located on the Mesa just above the town and overlooks the entire city as well as spectacular views of the mountains. Years ago this Mesa was where the Durango airport was located. There are on-campus dormitories as well as numerous condominium and apartment complexes in town for the students. Here is a link to the Fort Lewis College website.
Activities
If you like outdoors things to do, then this is really the place for you. With a river running right through the middle of town you'll enjoy kayaking, rafting (we even have some grade 4 rapids), great fishing of course and when you want a really lovely guy get, it's a great river to tube down on a hot August day. We have several lakes nearby. Lemon reservoir and Vallecito Lake are both located northeast of town about a 25 minute drive away. The new Nighthorse Reservoir has been completed and is currently being filled with water and it will adjoin the city limits to the South. Like Vallecito Lake, Lake Nighthorse will offer powerboating and fishing. A little bit further away, South of Ignacio, is that Colorado end of Navajo Lake. This is a very large lake that extends into New Mexico and has marinas in both states.
Durango Mountain Resort is our ski area and it is located about 25 minutes north of Durango. This is a major ski resort with a vertical drop of over 2000 feet and 40 miles of groomed terrain and 85 trails. The property covers over 2400 acres. There are a total of 11 chairlifts including high-speed quads and sixpacks go along with the other chairlifts. There is a giant tubing hill as well as an exemplary adaptive ski program for handicapped skiers.
To give you an idea of our temperate climate, Ski Magazine readers... not advertisers who would have a stake in it... voted DMR as the number one best climate out of the North American resorts. Our days are filled with nice blue skies and we are still able to have nearly 300 inches of annual snowfall at the ski resort each year. There are condominiums and homes located up at the ski area but we find that most people like to come into town to play because that is where all of the restaurants and activities are located. During the summer Durango Mountain Resort hosts Music in the Mountains which is about 30 days of fantastic chamber music performed nightly under the tent. Also during the summer months, everyone can have a good time on the Alpine slide.
Of course almost everybody knows that we are the fat tire biking capital of the country and we have miles and miles of trails all around the town. If you want something very tame, there is a concrete Riverwalk Trail all along the Animas River where you could ride a bike, walk or jog. We are still adding a couple of links to the Riverwalk Trail system but it's probably well over 5 miles in length already.
If you are a hunter then you will certainly enjoy living in Durango. Elk, mule deer, mountain lion, bear, and wild Turkey hunting abounds. People come from all over the world here to hunt our big game. The San Juan National Forest is roughly 3,000,000 acres in this section of the state. Much of that property is crisscrossed with jeeping roads and hiking trails that lead to high mountain lakes and other beautiful vistas. A large portion of that acreage is considered wilderness and roadless, so no motorized vehicles are allowed at all in certain parts of our national forest. Many people love to just jump in there four-wheel drive car and go for a afternoon drive with the camera and a picnic lunch.
There is an 18 hole golf course up at the college that is open to the public. Dalton Ranch And Country Club is a semi private 18 hole golf course built along the Animas River in the north Animas Valley. It is available for public play as well as memberships. The golf course at Tamarron and Glacier Club is private however if you are a guest at Tamarron resort you may be able to play on the 18 hole portion of the golf course that belongs to Tamarron. The Glacier Club nine holes is not available for any public play at all. Just south across the border into New Mexico is a public golf course called Pinon Hills which is often ranked in the top 20 public courses in the country.
The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad is certainly a major attraction to Durango. This coal-fired steam locomotive goes from Durango to Silverton along the banks of the Animas River approximately 10 months of the year carrying tourists and hikers I want to disembark in the middle of the national forest. Three quarters of the route is completely within national forest with no automobiles or roads anywhere nearby so it is especially pretty.
Our other big tourist attraction to the area is the Mesa Verde National Park located about a one-hour drive West of town. It is the only World Heritage Park in the United States and consists of numerous cliff dwellings and ruins that were abandoned about 1000 A.D. The museum there is exceptional and ranger guided tours are recommended.
Rock climbing is something that many people do here in town and we even have a rock just outside the city limits called X Rock that is a local favorite. There are several stores in town where you can buy all of the gear for those types of activities.
Shopping
If you are moving here to go shopping at Saks Fifth Avenue, then this is probably the wrong spot. We are not big on department stores... JCPenney would be the only one we have here in town... but we have numerous independent merchants. We do have a super Wal-Mart and a Home Depot, however. Farmington, New Mexico has a large mall and is located within an hour's drive of Durango. We have excellent grocery stores as well as several natural food stores. There are lots of art galleries as well as Native American stores with jewelry, weavings and pottery. Many of these stores are considered some of the very best in the country.
Restaurants and Hotels
I am not sure this is actually true... although it certainly does seem like it's true... but I've been told numerous times that Durango has more restaurants per capita than San Francisco. I will say this, it is hard to get a bad meal in Durango. Since we attract about 800,000 tourists per year, all of them have to eat somewhere. Consequently we have a large selection of restaurants to choose from and the quality is very good. Clearly with the number of tourists Durango attracts each year we have a lots of hotels in Durango. The historic Strater Hotel right downtown is a Victorian Hotel fantastically restored and fully modern. The Doubletree is right along the Animas River and offers convention space is well. Many of the other chain hotels and motels are here so when company comes to visit there will be plenty of places for them to stay.
Because of our very temperate climate (over 300 days of sunshine every year), the low property taxes (a good portion of our taxes are paid for by oil and gas companies in this County ), the beauty of the area and the many things to do, our town is often listed in the “Best Places To… retire, live, build a second home, raise your kids, etc. there's hardly a month that goes by that doesn't find us selected in some magazine for that award.
We are an informal town yet quite sophisticated. I believe it was Will Rogers who said of Durango , “Formal wear in Durango means blue jeans without holes .” We are definitely more laid-back and casual than the big city. If we see somebody on the street wearing a coat and tie we know one of three things: 1 they are visiting Durango for the first time; 2 it's a local and he is going to meet with his banker today; or 3 they are on their way to a funeral.
Bayfield, Ignacio, and Vallecito would be the other towns within our County.
Transportation
Durango is accessed from the North and the South by US Highway 550 and from the East and the West by US Highway 160. These are all weather, all season roads well maintained by the state of Colorado. Air transportation is through the Durango La Plata Airport which is really the regional airport for the entire Southwest corner of the state. We are currently serviced by Frontier Airlines, US Air and United Airlines. Servicing cities are Denver and Phoenix. We receive both jet and turboprop service with the runway close to 11,000 feet in length. The airport is a 20 minute drive from downtown Durango.
Employment
Our County is the largest natural gas producer in the state and as such there are many high-paying jobs in the gas industry. With our four-year college and brand-new $84 million hospital, those two employers add a large amount to our employment base as well. Ignacio is the center of the Southern Ute Indian tribe and the $200 million casino there offers lots of employment opportunities. Agriculture plays a large part in our local economy with lots of grass-hay raised on the numerous ranches that also raise horses and cattle. Being a tourist town with numerous restaurants and hotels, there are plenty of service jobs available, too. We have two industrial parks with a third one breaking ground out near the airport. National headquarters for the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory is right here in Durango as is Mercury Payments which is a major credit card processing company.
Education
There are three school districts in our County: Durango, Bayfield and Ignacio. The Durango school system has seven grade schools, two middle schools and one high school. Four of the grade schools are located outside the city limits and three are located in town. Both middle schools and the high school are in town. These schools score very well when compared to statewide testing that is done in Colorado each year. The Durango High School is considered a 4A size school (second to the largest) for athletic competition. Here is a link to the Durango school district website
Bayfield, which is located 19 miles east of Durango, has one primary school (kindergarten and first grade,) one elementary school (second through fifth grade) , one middle school and one senior high school. Bayfield school district is considered a class 3A size school for athletic competition. Here is a link to the Bayfield school district website.
Ignacio is located about 25 minutes from downtown Durango, South and East of town. It would be 7 to 10 minutes beyond the airport. This is a much smaller school district as the town is less than 1000 residents. Ignacio school district is considered a class 2A size school for athletic competition. Here's a link to the Ignacio school district website.
Fort Lewis College is a four-year fully accredited liberal arts college with an excellent business school, chemistry Department (one of the top 10 in the country I am told) accounting department and educational department that provides teaching certificates for K through 12. There are about 4000 students. It is located on the Mesa just above the town and overlooks the entire city as well as spectacular views of the mountains. Years ago this Mesa was where the Durango airport was located. There are on-campus dormitories as well as numerous condominium and apartment complexes in town for the students. Here is a link to the Fort Lewis College website.
Activities
If you like outdoors things to do, then this is really the place for you. With a river running right through the middle of town you'll enjoy kayaking, rafting (we even have some grade 4 rapids), great fishing of course and when you want a really lovely guy get, it's a great river to tube down on a hot August day. We have several lakes nearby. Lemon reservoir and Vallecito Lake are both located northeast of town about a 25 minute drive away. The new Nighthorse Reservoir has been completed and is currently being filled with water and it will adjoin the city limits to the South. Like Vallecito Lake, Lake Nighthorse will offer powerboating and fishing. A little bit further away, South of Ignacio, is that Colorado end of Navajo Lake. This is a very large lake that extends into New Mexico and has marinas in both states.
Durango Mountain Resort is our ski area and it is located about 25 minutes north of Durango. This is a major ski resort with a vertical drop of over 2000 feet and 40 miles of groomed terrain and 85 trails. The property covers over 2400 acres. There are a total of 11 chairlifts including high-speed quads and sixpacks go along with the other chairlifts. There is a giant tubing hill as well as an exemplary adaptive ski program for handicapped skiers.
To give you an idea of our temperate climate, Ski Magazine readers... not advertisers who would have a stake in it... voted DMR as the number one best climate out of the North American resorts. Our days are filled with nice blue skies and we are still able to have nearly 300 inches of annual snowfall at the ski resort each year. There are condominiums and homes located up at the ski area but we find that most people like to come into town to play because that is where all of the restaurants and activities are located. During the summer Durango Mountain Resort hosts Music in the Mountains which is about 30 days of fantastic chamber music performed nightly under the tent. Also during the summer months, everyone can have a good time on the Alpine slide.
Of course almost everybody knows that we are the fat tire biking capital of the country and we have miles and miles of trails all around the town. If you want something very tame, there is a concrete Riverwalk Trail all along the Animas River where you could ride a bike, walk or jog. We are still adding a couple of links to the Riverwalk Trail system but it's probably well over 5 miles in length already.
If you are a hunter then you will certainly enjoy living in Durango. Elk, mule deer, mountain lion, bear, and wild Turkey hunting abounds. People come from all over the world here to hunt our big game. The San Juan National Forest is roughly 3,000,000 acres in this section of the state. Much of that property is crisscrossed with jeeping roads and hiking trails that lead to high mountain lakes and other beautiful vistas. A large portion of that acreage is considered wilderness and roadless, so no motorized vehicles are allowed at all in certain parts of our national forest. Many people love to just jump in there four-wheel drive car and go for a afternoon drive with the camera and a picnic lunch.
There is an 18 hole golf course up at the college that is open to the public. Dalton Ranch And Country Club is a semi private 18 hole golf course built along the Animas River in the north Animas Valley. It is available for public play as well as memberships. The golf course at Tamarron and Glacier Club is private however if you are a guest at Tamarron resort you may be able to play on the 18 hole portion of the golf course that belongs to Tamarron. The Glacier Club nine holes is not available for any public play at all. Just south across the border into New Mexico is a public golf course called Pinon Hills which is often ranked in the top 20 public courses in the country.
The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad is certainly a major attraction to Durango. This coal-fired steam locomotive goes from Durango to Silverton along the banks of the Animas River approximately 10 months of the year carrying tourists and hikers I want to disembark in the middle of the national forest. Three quarters of the route is completely within national forest with no automobiles or roads anywhere nearby so it is especially pretty.
Our other big tourist attraction to the area is the Mesa Verde National Park located about a one-hour drive West of town. It is the only World Heritage Park in the United States and consists of numerous cliff dwellings and ruins that were abandoned about 1000 A.D. The museum there is exceptional and ranger guided tours are recommended.
Rock climbing is something that many people do here in town and we even have a rock just outside the city limits called X Rock that is a local favorite. There are several stores in town where you can buy all of the gear for those types of activities.
Shopping
If you are moving here to go shopping at Saks Fifth Avenue, then this is probably the wrong spot. We are not big on department stores... JCPenney would be the only one we have here in town... but we have numerous independent merchants. We do have a super Wal-Mart and a Home Depot, however. Farmington, New Mexico has a large mall and is located within an hour's drive of Durango. We have excellent grocery stores as well as several natural food stores. There are lots of art galleries as well as Native American stores with jewelry, weavings and pottery. Many of these stores are considered some of the very best in the country.
Restaurants and Hotels
I am not sure this is actually true... although it certainly does seem like it's true... but I've been told numerous times that Durango has more restaurants per capita than San Francisco. I will say this, it is hard to get a bad meal in Durango. Since we attract about 800,000 tourists per year, all of them have to eat somewhere. Consequently we have a large selection of restaurants to choose from and the quality is very good. Clearly with the number of tourists Durango attracts each year we have a lots of hotels in Durango. The historic Strater Hotel right downtown is a Victorian Hotel fantastically restored and fully modern. The Doubletree is right along the Animas River and offers convention space is well. Many of the other chain hotels and motels are here so when company comes to visit there will be plenty of places for them to stay.