Can you comfortably fly into ABQ, drive to Santa Fe (Inn at Loerto or La Fonda or Eldorado?), spend 2 nights there, then 1 night Taos (?), 2 or 3 nights Durango (Stator Hotel), see Mesa Verde from Durango as a home base or go there as we are leaving? But what route best back to ABQ from Durango/Mesa Verde?
Any input would be great!!!! Thank you.

From Alb to Durango, we took 550, just north of Alb. It's not as scenic as your path up to Durango, but the most direct. You will really enjoy the drive up--very scenic.

Back in 2001 my family and I did a similar trip. (We started in Durango and finished in Santa Fe along with throwing Moab in the middle.)

We drove from Albuquerque to Durango on our first day and since we were told there was a lot of construction on 550 we instead took 40 West to Hwy 371 and then headed north towards Durango. This route probably isn't as scenic as 550 but it was an easy drive and the only traffic was in Farmington.

Since it was summer, we got a good deal at Cascade Village in Purgatory (north of Durango). From this home base, we spent one day at Mesa Verde. It isn't located on the way to Taos from Durango so I won't try to see it as you leave. We spent a full day there and to see Cliff Palace and Balcony House you will need to arrive early at the Visitor's Center to get tickets for a guided tour time.

On our 2nd day in Durango we drove in a loop thru Silverton, Ouray, and then to Telluride and back. The last day we did sightseeing/shopping around Durango and took a glider plane ride (It was so much fun and gorgeous scenary).

We then drove up to Moab and revisited Canyonlands and Arches. From there, we drove straight to Taos. We did 1 1/2 days of sightseeing including Taos Peublo. If you love art of any kind, you will want to spend lots of time in Taos at the many art galleries.

When you are driving between Taos to Santa Fe take the High Road through Chimayo, Truchas, and Las Trampas where we found some interesting artists and several historic mission churches.

Enjoy your trip!

Ready4aVoyage,

Hi... I noticed in your post that you spent a day driving from Durango to Ouray and Telluride and back to Durango. That's exactly the way I plan to spend one day of my upcoming trip in a couple months. What time of day did you head out on that route and when did you get back to Durango? How much time did you spend outside your car at these different towns or scenic overlooks? It seems like a pretty long day but Telluride intrigues me and I want to tie that into my day. Did you drive to Telluride via the town of Ridgway? Did you backtrack at all or go back to Durango via the town of Dolores? If you or anyone else can comment about any other details of this day you spent I'd really like to hear it. Thank you!

Sandi

Thank you for the information! We are going 25 to Santa Fe, 285/68 to Taos, then 64/84/160 to Durango. Is Taos to Durango too much for one day drive? After 3 days in Durango we'll go straight back 550 to ABQ. Thank you for the great suggestions for things to do around Durango, that sounds just about right for us. So far I think it is Inn at Loretto in Santa Fe & Stater Hotel in Durango, possibly Casa de Chemeneas (chimneys) in Taos. Any other suggestions are welcome. Thank again.

ldnas71...I am trying to remember that day - it has been almost 3 years since we went. Keep in mind my trip was in August, so the days were long. We stayed in Purgatory which is about 20 miles north of Durango so we had a good head start that morning (we probably left between 7 & 8). We drove to Silverton, spent about 15-20 minutes, wasn't really impressed, and left. We drove on to Ouray (hidden in a valley) and spent a couple of hours visiting Box Canyon Falls and walking around downtown browsing in some of the shops. We then drove up to Ridgeway and had a late picnic lunch at Ridgeway State Park which is on 550 just north of the Hwy 62 intersection.

We then took HWY 62 to HWY 145 to Telluride and spent a couple of hours shopping and taking a chairlift ride to the top for pictures. From Telluride we kept going south on 145 and cut across on 184 at Dolores and ate dinner in Durango. It made for a long day but it was a beautiful drive and I have some great pictures especially along HWY 145.

PeggyE...You can drive to Durango from Taos in one day pretty easily. (I think it is a 4-5 hour drive)

Thanks again for the response ReadyforAVoyage! Just booked 3 nights at the Strator Hotel & got our airfare. Also 2 days in Santa Fe at Dancing Ground of the Sun in the Corn Dancer suite. I don't have any real input on that B&B but it looks great & convenient to downtown....fingers crossed. Even though you weren't impressed with Silverton, I am assuming the drive was worth it? We will definately go to Mesa Verde though.

We arrived in Silverton before the first train from Durango arrived and maybe things had just not perked up yet. The drive is definitely worth it.

All these drive times will be lengthened by road construction in various places.

ABQ to Santa Fe only takes about an hour via I-25. If you have the time, you might want to take the Turquoise Trail, which is the scenic back route to Santa Fe through Madrid. Santa Fe to Durango takes about 4 hours, if you drive up through Chama and Pagosa Springs. I don't remember how much extra time it takes from Taos, but it's a beautiful drive. Durango is just under an hour from the Mesa Verde entrance station. From Durango back to ABQ via takes about 3.5 hours, and is the most effecient route.

Durango to Silverton takes an hour; the drive to Ouray takes another hour, not including stops. I think of the driving time for the loop including Durango, Ouray, Telluride and Dolores as taking less than 5 hours, so you can make several stops and still not be overwhelmed by driving. There is no backtracking except for the brief stretch in and out of Telluride, which is in a box canyon. I wouldn't try to combine Mesa Verde with the loop drive. The town of Silverton isn't that interesting unless you are a history buff or really like souvenir shops. The scenery around Silverton is gorgeous, however.

Thank you everyone for all the great information. Travelyn, you just said the route back to ABQ from Durango was 3.5 hours via ? highway? You left that out. I am assuming 166? I think we'll plan our days in Durango like you suggested, one day the loop drive & one day in Mesa Verde. Leaving May 1st so I imagine it is still jacket & boot weather at night?

Make the Black Canyon of the Gunnison N.P. part of your loop drive. It isn't that far off your path.

It's 3.5 hours from Durango to ABQ via 550 south to I-25.

In May, jeans, a light fleece jacket and tennies are fine in Durango for the evenings. I'd wear boots only for hiking. The thin air, low humidity and little wind at that time of year make it comfortable even when temperatures are low. In Durango and Santa Fe, you can expect highs in the 70s and lows in the 20s to 30s. Albuquerque will be considerably warmer.

I'll ditto Connie's advice to see the Black Canyon while you're in the area. It only takes a couple of extra hours to get a feel for it, and it is an impressive place.

I really appreciate all the advice, seems I know more about other countries so it's time to see my own in more depth. I'll let you know how it all went!