The Durango to Silverton Colorado Train Experience

If our road trip were to have a destination in mind, Durango would be it.  Family had gone before and raved about how wonderful it was, so of course we had to go, too! Everyone that had been to Durango highly recommended the train ride that goes between Silverton and Durango. Tickets are a little pricy, especially if you are trying to do things on a budget, but I believe the experience was worth it!



The whole trip was a surprise trip. The boys knew they were going on a camping road trip, and the night before we would tell them all about our surprise adventure for the next day.

My absolute favorite part of our train trip is that half of the gondola was filled up with a tour group. These wonderful people were from all over, including England, Australia, New Zealand, and some other European countries! I was in love with all of their accents!

My heart just swooned during the whole trip because two sweet ladies, Pat and Susan, temporarily adopted our boys. Anytime there was something interesting to see, they invited them over to their side of the train. By the end of the train ride we had gotten to know each other and were easily going from train side to train side for the views. Making new friends helped make it magical!













Even though we brought snacks, the boys were eyeballing the popcorn. I might have been too, so we went to the snack car. No pictures - sorry! Walking on a moving train with kids to get the food was enough multitasking! (Remember to bring cash with you on the train - all concessions on the train are cash only. )

Pulling into Silverton was incredible! The train pulls up in the middle of the street, which was a dirt road. There is only one paved road in all of the town. It was so quaint! We had about an hour and a half to roam the town - perfect for pizza and a stroll.





We look a little like vagabonds! Being in the open air gondola we wore sunglasses for eye protection from the soot, but it still got all over us. Family and friends recommended to wear something we were okay with getting a little dirty (NOT white!). So glad we did. They boys hands looked filthy!

I wouldn't trade being soot free for a cabin. The time or two we went in to use the restroom, it felt a little stuffy, and a little quiet. I loved completely experiencing the changing temperature, the smell of the woods and water. Totally worth a little soot on your clothes!

Instead of taking the train back, we opted for the bus. I may or may not have almost fallen asleep on the bus. We were pretty tired at the end of the day! Because of my point of exhaustion - scenic pictures were resorted to little video clips on my phone, which were still amazing! To check them out, here's our full youtube video of our trip:

Thank you, Colorado, for being so awesome! Have you been to Colorado yet?

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Want to catch up on our road trip?

Our Day trip to Mesa Verde

Great Sand Dunes, Colorado 

Caprock Canyon, Texas 

Daytrip to Mesa Verde

Our main destination for the trip was to go to Durango, Colorado. When I discovered that Durango was only an hour from Mesa Verde, I immediately planned an extra day on our trip! There is something truly fascinating about these ancient structures left behind that has always captivated me.



Mesa Verde did not disappoint!! Oh man, next time I want to spend a few days there. Maybe camp in the park. Maybe even buy a motorcycle. Kidding! One day, but not yet. I guess what was left in my dusty files about this place was that they climbed up to the top, but they actually climbed DOWN. Really resourceful and creative people. There's about a 20 mile beautiful drive up to the top, complete with switchbacks and a tunnel. The entire drive is breathtaking!



We took the Cliff Palace tour. What you need to know going to Mesa Verde is that there are three tours to chose from. One was two hours and booked up for the day. The other one hour tour is the most adventurous one, which we will take another time (Nick was still recovering from back issues on this trip). Cliff Palace was the perfect Mesa Verde Tour for a young family.

The boys did well! I loved the ranger that we had - she asked the junior rangers to raise their hands (which happened to be just our boys even though there were some older kids there). They were then given the job to help distinguish between rocks and walls, and to help people stay off the walls. So sweet! Ranger Ryan, of course, probably needed that guidance specifically for him. The tour was a perfect length for little kids and big kids.

There were some tight climbing spots, both going up and down. It was a little steep in spots, but the nice thing about it was that it was manageable for everyone, including our four year old!

The rest of the time we spent just driving around and hopping out at overlooks. Cliff dwellings and spectacular views all around. Just. Amazing.





While driving along the top we saw signs for Indian Fry Bread. Following the signs takes you into Ute Mountain Reservation, and the fry bread is amazing! There was a wide selection of toppings, and we opted for powdered sugar, cinnamon, and honey. This 5 minute detour is worth it. YUM!

We spent the majority of the day here, wishing we could stay longer, but were still able to make it back to our campsite in Durango for dinner. I think this was my favorite part of our entire trip.

This quote from the welcome center perfectly sums it up:

"The sky overhead, 

the earth below, 

the mountains around, 

I stand in the middle place - at home."

- Dr. Rina Swentzell, Santa Clara Pueblo

Have you been to Mesa Verde? What are some of your favorites memories?

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If you want to see more from our summer road trip, check out these posts:

Great Sand Dunes
Caprock Canyon
Our Youtube channel

First Time visiting Colorado Great Sand Dunes

This was my first experience with Colorado, and how wonderful it was! Our campsite was just 30 minutes away from the entrance to the Great Sand Dunes National Park, and we planned to spend the day there. After breakfast we packed lunch and our bathing suites then headed for the dunes!







We stopped by the welcome center to get the boys their junior ranger packet. They have a nice hands-on center that is very kid-friendly with a great view of the Dunes! The boys wanted to hike to the top FROM THE WELCOME CENTER because there was a path. Crazy kids. Somehow we managed to convince them to go back the the truck. We drove to a parking lot much closer to the dunes and creek.



Just so you know, even if all you want to do is hike the dunes, you must FIRST walk through the creek! It's not deep at all, but your knees and below are going to get wet. We got all ready, came to this point, then went back and changed into our bathing suites.







The Sand Dunes are deceiving at how far away and how tall they are! It felt like forever until we reached the first little sand dune. We thought we were so smart bringing a sled, too! Well guess what? They don't exactly work on sand. There are special wood boards that you can rent at the welcome center. If you wax them well, then yes, it will work. We saw other people with these boards. They could make it all the way down the dune, whereas we would make it about 10 feet then have to scoot it down. It was still fun, just not as epic.

Here's a view of the creek from the "top" of our little dune.



After several attempts of sledding and just having fun running down the dune, we chose to go back to the creek and play. The creek is AMAZING!! It is not very deep at all, with probably the deepest part going to my knee. This makes it very kid, especially toddler, friendly.

It was weird, too, because it was like there were gentle little waves just like at a beach. When we went back to the welcome center and watched the video, we learned that there are antidunes that build up, then burst creating a surge flow. So cool! Such a unique and rare ecosystem.

I love how much room there was for all the crowds. Even though there were tons of people everywhere (and an overflowing parking lot - so glad we got there early) there was plenty of room for everyone to play. 

After eating lunch, playing some more (and getting our sunburn) we needed some downtime. It looked like a rain cloud was getting ready to come over to the dunes. We went back the our tent for a little while. 

In the evening we headed back towards the dunes to hike to Zapata Falls.

Well, we never made it to the falls because you have to cross the stream and follow a path OR walk up the stream through a cave to see it. So cool, right? Yeah! As we approached the water, it was a pretty strong current. We would have to carry the boys across. And the water was arctic cold. Not to mention, we couldn't get a clear view of any valid paths on the other side, and I wasn't going to freeze just to find out if it was the way or not. Zachary was very disappointed. Next time we may need to come later in the summer (or have a personal guide at that point!).

Well, I was going to post a photo of the water, but I never took a picture! You'll just have to checkout the youtube video. ;-)

The hike was still worth it! It smelt so freshly of pine and the cold water mist! Too bad photos can't be scratch and sniff. I think the next few photos really savored the some of the beauty.

It just gets even better with a nice drive and a beautiful sunset.

Have you been to the Sand Dunes? Have any tips for the Zapata waterfall?

To see where we camped outside of the Sand Dunes, check out this post.
Check out our first stop at Caprock Canyon.