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When we decided to go to Silverton on our anniversary, we decided the train was the only way to go.
This is the train station at Durango. The railroad is the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad.
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The D&SNGRR operates 4 restored trains a day to Silverton and back. A one way trip will take about 3 hours. Most of the trains have one Boxcar for freight. We checked our backpacks and mountain bike in as freight and were issued a real, freight bill of lading. |
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The trains travel up the canyon to Silverton on the original tracks puffing steam, smoke and blowing whistles all the way. We just sat back watching the scenery go by, except a few trips to the kitchen car for cocktails.
The canyon is beautiful. It has a few bridges and a 500’ cliff to look over.
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The train passes the original Silverton Station (it’s a historic building) and stops at the new train station on 11th Street. We unloaded our bikes and backpacks, and off we went.
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The scenery around Silverton was great. There are a lot old silver mines all over the place to explore and photograph.
Silverton’s main product was silver, however, there have been other ores like gold mined there. |
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The Weminuche Wilderness is just to the east of Silverton. There are no motorized vehicles or bikes allowed in the wilderness. The mountain peaks outside the wilderness are huge and there are a lot of 4x4 roads that lead to the various old mine sites in them.
This is Carrie near the top of one of the mountain peaks we explored.
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The Weminuche Wilderness is easily accessed from Silverton or from the train. The train stops at a few different points during the trip through the canyon for hikers, backpackers and fisherman to get on and off.
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There are several ghost towns in the area surrounding Silverton. The area boomed and died within 50 years or so. There were people in some of the towns until the 60’s, but in an area that gets 200+ inches of snow a year and almost weekly avalanches, there aren’t that many buildings still standing. |
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On the 4th of July the town had a big celebration. It was a blast being in the turn of the century town watching an old fashion parade. The town’s people had antique cars, bikes and odds & ends to proudly display. |
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Everyone in the town seemed to get into the action. The sign this guy was carrying read "Up With Women, Booze, Dance & Gambling".
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This was the band - they play a bunch of instruments that seemed to be conceived in someone’s basement during the long winter months.
A friend (Nicole) we met while there warned us that the towns people could be pretty colorful.
At the end of the parade the volunteer fire department had a water fight and made sure as many spectators were "accidentally" hit as possible.
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Well, all good things have to come to an end. The train arrives and our trip is in its final stage. It was extremely hard to board the train.
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On the trip back we learned the train runs in the winter too. It only goes to Cascade Canyon and back which is about half way, because of the avalanche danger.
We immediately start thinking,
Hmmm…….Skiing……Camping!
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