Durango, Silverton and Mesa Verde

Mesa Verde was a big surprise for us. It was so interesting to read about the history of the area and learn about those who lived here. One of the biggest surprises was Square House. While there were no tours for this amazing structure we could look over the canyon to see it. It is a 3 storied village located under a cliff. It was the tallest man-made structure in American until the mid 1800s and in Colorado into the 1900s.

Cliff Palace was also just incredible. It is comprised of 150 rooms and it is believed that 100 people lived here at a time. The location under the cliff would have offered protection from the elements. They needed to climb to the top to farm. They carved hand and foot holes up on the cliff walls to climb up - wow!

Silverton is a funky, fun little town. We had it mostly to ourselves because the train from Durango doesn't start for another few days. Our waitress said it was about to get crazy!

Million dollar highway was closed to Ouray... bummer but actually Bill wasn't keen on driving it. We have added it to another trip to CO. As long as Kim lives in CO - we will keep making the trek here on a regular basis.

The town of Silverton was a rough and tumble sin city for much of the 1800s. But as silver and gold mining ended - the town begin to die. In 1950 the local priest spearheaded a proposal to purchase the 12' statue to protect the town and its miners. The statue is carved from marble from Italy. Very shortly after it was installed a uranium company opened up and saved Silverton from becoming yet another ghost town. A massive flash flood in 1978 rushed through the mine but not a single miner was lost.

The best part of this area had to be the Durango Train up the San Jan Mountains and into the canyon - more on that here! Steam Engine.

The final day we took a trip to Honeyville. Such a fun place to shop and explore all things bees.