Born as a railroad town more than a century ago, durango remains a railroad town to this day, as thousands of visitors take a journey back in time aboard the Durango & Silverton narrow gauge railroad. Durango was founded when the Denver & Rio grande railroad line was extended to Silverton to haul precious metals from high-country mines. The new residents had turned the town into a smelting and transportation center. The unstable nature of the mining business gave the town many ups and downs. Durango remained a center for ranching and mining into the 1960s. The Durango & Silverton narrow gauge railroad is now durango's biggest attraction, hauling more than 200,000 passengers each summer. Durango also attracts mountain-biking enthusiasts from all over the country.

While taking a steam-train trip on the Durango & Silverton narrow gauge railroad is undeniably the area's top attraction, there are other things to do here. Skiers flock to the Durango mountain resort in winter, which also offers hiking, fishing, rafting and horseback riding in warmer months. Along main avenue you'll see the handsome strater hotel , the building that housed the region's first bank, and the sites of saloons and other businesses of the late 1800s and early 1900s; while walking down third avenue you'll pass several stone churches and some of the finest homes in Durango from the same period, including the house where silent movie star harold lloyd lived during part of his childhood.

Mild to wild rafting and jeep trail tours offers a wide range of rafting trips in the southwest. They are based out of Durango, co, but run trips in Arizona and Utah. The rivers that they run are: the upper animas river, the lower animas river, the san miguel river outside of telluride, the upper and lower boxes of the piedra rivers and the family friendly section of the Colorado river out of moab, ut and the salt and verde rivers in Arizona.