oldemalloy Yes, I'll keep checking plane ticket prices. right now it's stilll showing 2x the price to fly to COS instead of DEN, though you're right about COS car rental being cheaper (but not cheap enough to justify paying 2x for plane tickets).

Mel, Thanks for the restaruants and coffee shop recs! I will do more research on lodging in Ouray!

Hi yk, looks like you've come up with a decent itinerary (no surprise) thanks to help for other Fodorites. It's busy, in a good way, and much better than your original proposal.

Can't really help you with lodging in the three towns you mentioned. I have stayed in all three, but nowhere particularly memorable. In Durango my friends made sure we could walk to Steamworks Brewing.
I've never stayed here, but maybe check out the venerable Strater Hotel? Location, location.

I'll just mention to keep an eye on the wildfire situation as your trip nears. Hopefully it doesn't pan out, but this year has the potential for being rough. There was already a small fire in the foothills outside of Boulder when we came home from DIA on Tuesday.

There are several websites & apps to look at fire activity. In case you don't have any on hand, here are two sites:
https://app.watchduty.org/
https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/

Have a great trip, look forward to your TR.

Hi Nelson, thanks for the headsup on wild fires. fingers crossed! I have booked us at 3 different best westerns ; reviews are decent so they should be fine. I just found out yesterday that the school district has decided to push the start day back one day, so I'm considering extending our stay by 1-2 days, IF the plane ticket prices are reasonable (right now it isn't). That way, I can add one day in Durango and one day at the end of our trip, making it less hectic. Will see... still have 4+ months to play around.

Hope you had a good trip?

Hi yk, on relative spur-of-the-moment we decided to spend 10 days hanging out in Savannah, Georgia. Really nice trip, we weren't ready to come home yet. Thanks for asking!

Good luck extending your time in Colorado, hope it works out. That corner of Colorado contains some of the most magnificent mountain scenery in the state.

As noted, If you can get a flight to the COS instead of DEN then it will cut out several hours of potentially sucky driving.

If you do wind up driving I-25 between Denver and the Springs, here is something from the Weird Roadside Americana Department: you'll be passing under the newly-constructed largest wildlife overpass in North America.
https://governorsoffice.colorado.gov...rgest-wildlife

Update:
Flying into/out of COS is out of the question, not only because of the $$$, but also the flight times really don't work for us (either early morning departure from Boston, or late arrival into COS). However, due to school schedule change to a later start date for the new school year, I have changed our return flight DEN-BOS to 2 days later, gaining us approx 1.5 days. Our new departure from DEN is at 5:35pm on a Monday, which makes me think I should spend our last morning in Denver. With one extra day, should I add it to Durango, or to Old Colorado City?

Day 1 12:30pm arrival to DEN, quick lunch, rental car, a few hours at Florissant Fossil Beds NM, onward to Buena Vista. Overnight in BV
Day 2 half-day guided rafting at BV; late afternoon drive to Montrose. Overnight in Montrose
Day 3 Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP (hiking). Late afternoon drive to Ouray. Overnight in Ouray
Day 4 Ouray hiking , mine tours. Overnight in Ouray
Day 5 Drive back up Ridgway to Rt 145, stop in Telluride for a few hours (walk around town, take the free gondola, lunch), then continue to Mesa Verde NP. Overnight in Far View lodge inside MVNP
Day 6 MVNP tours (Chapin Mesa); overnight Far View lodge
Day 7 MVNP tour (Wetherill mesa); afternoon drive to Durango, overnight Durango
Day 8 Durango - Silverton train ride (should I do train both ways or train one-way, coach one-way)? Overnight Durango

Option 1
Day 9 Extra day in Durango, overnight Durango
Day 10 Early morning drive from Durango to Great sand Dunes NP; a few hours at Great sand dunes; late afternoon drive to Old Colorado City (AirBnB by Garden of the Gods)
Day 11 Garden of the Gods, Cave of the Winds, Seven Falls, overnight Old CC
Day 12 Morning Drive up to Pikes Peak; overnight Old CC
Day 13 Drive to Denver, spend half day in Denver, Flight out of DEN 5:35pm

Option 2
Day 9 Early morning drive from Durango to Great sand Dunes NP; a few hours at Great sand dunes; late afternoon drive to Old Colorado City
Day 10 Garden of the Gods, Cave of the Winds, Seven Falls, overnight Old Colorado City
Day 11 Morning Drive up to Pikes Peak; overnight Old Colorado City
Day 12 Extra day in Old CC, manitou Springs, visit Florissant Fossil Beds (remove it from arrival day), dinosaur center in Woodland Park etc, overnight Old CC
Day 13 Drive to Denver, spend half day in Denver, Flight out of DEN 5:35pm

Both options are fine. For the last day, consider going to Red Rocks. If there is a concert there the night before you go that you would enjoy, that would be great too. Hearing one in such a beautiful amphtheater would be something to remember

Enjoy these trips with your son, they grow up so quickly and are busy living their "grown up" lives before you know it.

I just looked at the schedule, Sept 6 and 7 show the Colorado Symphony. But if that isn't when you are there, ithere are lots of other shows and it is also a good place to get a great work out before you fly out.

should I add it to Durango, or to Old Colorado City?

Durango!