Pagosa Springs and Darango area
 

Does anyone have any info about Pagosa Springs and the Darango area? <BR>We are planning a trip from Farmington to Pagosa Springs. I have heard the train ride is a good thing to do.

The scenery is awesome for one thing. There are hot springs in Pagosa (a couple of different places). We took a drive to Chimney Rock and the tour...hiking and some light climbing, but worth the trip. We also did the Durango, Silverton RR trip and it was wonderful. Be sure to make your reservations early to get a seat. We took the train up and a bus down. Got to spend some time walking around Silverton and it was going back in time. We took off very early one morning and drove to Mesa Verde and spent the day there. You might want to spend more time though. One day we just drove around and found this beautiful lake in the mountains (we were at Fairfield Pagosa). I'm sure there is a lot more to see in the Durango area too. Enjoy the trip.

Wow, JoAnn did a great job in her response, & covered just about everything I can think of. I will say we really enjoyed the hot springs, Mesa Verde & Chimney Rock. That whole area is beautiful, & you do see some country on the train that you can't see from a car. The wilderness just north of Pagosa is very nice hiking territory if you're so inclined.

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We just returned from there Sept 8. We were there (4 Corners area) for a week and spent half of our time based out of Durango and half based out of Bloomfield NM. <BR> <BR>I highly recommend the train ride also. We booked passage in one of the covered cars, which was nice for my elderly parents, but if the weather is going to be nice, (and you don't get too willy at heights and big dropoffs) I would recommend one of the open cars. It was really challenging trying to get pictures out of the windows of the closed cars. I mention the heights because there are places where there really doesn't seem to be much land between you and the edge...of course you are safe or they wouldn't run the train. <BR> <BR>Mesa Verde is also a must see. And if you have time for the drive, take the loop from Durango to Cortez to Telluride, over to 550 again and back down to Durango. Absolutely fantastic. We didn't stop anywhere on the way, so we were able to do it easily in an afternoon.