Durango Mountain Biking

Durango mountain biking ... I hardly got a taste of it, but what I did try of it was nice!

To mountain bike Durango we had to go to the southwestern part of Colorado. Durango wraps around the Animas River much like a hand that is pulling on a rope.

Alongside the river ran a wonderful cement walking/riding path. There were some real pretty parks on both banks of the Animas, so the builders made some nice looking bridges to cross over. Visitors could spend a good portion of a day just exploring this path.

We found the weather in August to be very predictable ... there would be thunder showers at some point during the day ... every day.

The afternoon we arrived in Durango I rode over to the Horse Gulch area, as it was close to the KOA where we were staying ... and I only had a couple hours before dark.

I found Horse Gulch to be a nice little set of trails--little because many were underwater. The area would have been much larger in dry weather.

The next day we had stopped at a local bike shop and asked them about Durango Mountain Biking ... mainly which trails they recommended. The first one the worker mentioned was The Colorado Trail, followed by Hermosa Creek... but said he had tried to ride Hermosa Creek a couple days before and it was "mush". Since it had rained the past two days he did not recommend doing it. I was bummed since I had read a lot about it ... maybe next trip.

I asked him if there were any trails that were mostly rock ... that I could ride even if it had rained a lot. He recommended the Overend Mountain Park trails. He said the tread there consisted of shale ... which was not greatly affected by water. He was correct. The trails were damp but the moisture didn't seem to affect the tread much at all. Although the trails were in good shape and I had fun on them, I would not rate them anywhere near the top of trails I have ridden.

Cindy was excited when I mentioned doing some Durango mountain biking, but not exactly for the same reasons. She was interested in the train ride from Durango to Silverton. My brother (George) had ridden this train and told us what a great trip it was. Cindy had researched it, and made our reservations in advance (and it was a good thing we did, as the train was packed).

Our train left on a beautiful Monday morning at 9:00. It did not take long before we were hugging cliffs overlooking the Animas River. We had a car with open sides, but had a roof, and we were allowed to wander from side to side. We arrived in Silverton just in time for lunch. The second we stepped off the train the sky broke open ... and we ran for the nearest cover. We ate lunch at an old fashioned hotel, shopped a little in a downpour, then headed back to the depot. We each had a couple of hot chocolates to help stay warm on the way back. We thought it was a great trip.

Though Durango is a mountain biking hot spot, I didn't get to do many rides ... especially due to the inclement weather. Will I return there to get more Colorado mountain biking though? You bet! Will I ride the train again too? Most likely.

Note: Although I have ridden the Horse Gulch and Overend areas ... I am still working on their pages.

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