cheap seats for Durango

Do you know how to boondock?

I have seen, but not rode on, the Silverton RR. In the area we went on the Cumbres and Toletic RR and it is great. It goes high in the Mountains and cris crosses the CO. & NM boarder several times. There is beautiful scenery.

We stayed in the KOA Durango last summer and there was never a time we couldn't smell pot smoke, I guess that is the norm in CO. now.


It was a less than desirable place to stay even though we watched a storm roll buy that just missed us that made for an amazing sunset.

1stgenfarmboy wrote:
We stayed in the KOA Durango last summer and there was never a time we couldn't smell pot smoke, I guess that is the norm in CO. now.


It was a less than desirable place to stay even though we watched a storm roll buy that just missed us that made for an amazing sunset.

Like the smog it blows in from Los Angeles

We are staying just north of Durango in Havilland Lake National Forest Campground in late August.

We took the railroad several years ago and recommend that you ride the bus from Durango to Silverton and then return on the train. One way on the train is enough.

linnemj wrote:

We took the railroad several years ago and recommend that you ride the bus from Durango to Silverton and then return on the train. One way on the train is enough.

Agree with the above, but for different reasons. We took the bus up to Silverton, and to this day I am glad we did. The driver was a wealth of information about the history of the area, famous and/or colorful persons, local lore and more. He also gave us ideas of what to look for on the way back down the gorge on the train. Made the ride much more enjoyable and informative for me and my family.

I don't know about inexpensive camping in the area - the season for RV's up there is so short that the CG owners really have to "make it" during the busy tourist season. Enjoy & safe travels.

We stayed in Junction Creek National Forest campground, excellent park, some sites have power. You can reserve via recreation.gov, $27 with power, $22 without.

Padlin wrote:
We stayed in Junction Creek National Forest campground, excellent park, some sites have power. You can reserve via recreation.gov, $27 with power, $22 without.

Co-worker did this last year. 30ft TT and Dodge 3500. Was quite happy with the NF campground. Over the phone (or texting, don't recall which) he expressed concern over the price of the train ride and I told him it was the chance of a lifetime, do not miss it. They took the train and were quite happy with doing it.

Charles

Junction Creek is wonderful depending on what one needs. There is another option with hot tubs. We used the Sky Ute Casino at Ignacio on one trip. Very nice RV pads full 50A hookups with fast WiFi, and I mean really fast. And we did not gamble but the pool and tubs are close and really convenient to the RV park. A laundry too! And at the time we went it was $27 a night and I think that entailed an AARP discount. Seems like it was 21 miles to Durango.

It now shows $35 a night. Have fun.

Padlin wrote:
We stayed in Junction Creek National Forest campground, excellent park, some sites have power. You can reserve via recreation.gov, $27 with power, $22 without.

And if you have the Senior Pass for National Parks, you can also use it for USFS CGs. Half price on the site itself, but not on electric. Still, $19/night for electric at the site -- not a bad deal.
H E R E - San Juan National Forest
is a link and list of all of the campgrounds in the San Juan Forest, which surrounds the Durango area. Already mentioned CGs are on this list, where you can find more information and make reservations.

One thing about reservations though; nearly all weekends will have been completely booked for the entire season, so if you're looking at staying a weekend, you would be better off in a commercial campground.

And no, public pot smoking is NOT the norm in Colorado.