Trip Report Fall Colors Tour - San Juans & DSNGR

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
For our annual Fall Colors Tour we headed to the beautiful San Juan Mountains and stayed in Durango for a couple of nights. The scenery of the San Juans is hard to beat as many of you know and Fall in a special time to be in those mountains. We decided to do something we've talked about ever since moving to Colorado and booked 2 tickets to ride the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gage Railroad from Durango to Silverton & back.

Our first day we drove from GJ to Ouray where we had lunch at Maggies, the burgers were amazing! We headed up the Million Dollar highway, stopping along the way to take pics of the colors.

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We eventually drove over Red Mountain Pass, into Silverton & hung out for awhile, walked around the open air D&SNGRR museum, checking out the cars and equipment. We did catch the train leaving town and watched the track patrolman head out behind the train in their motorcar.

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We continued the drive, stopping a couple more times heading over Molas Pass for more colors & views. As the evening wound down, we found our hotel in Durango... right downtown and a few steps away from the depot.

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Early that next morning we packed for our excursion, grabbed some breakfast and coffee.... it was 38*'s in Durango and I was glad that we were riding in one of the enclosed cars, not the open gondolas! We had a little time, so we walked thru the massive museum, it was impressive!

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Our train was scheduled at 9 AM, we boarded 30 min earlier and got comfortable for the 45 mile, 3.5 hour journey. The train was packed for the trip and right on the dot at 9 AM, we heard the 'All Aboard!' and shortly there after the whistle and we were rolling out! Our locomotive was 480 which is a steam locomotive that used to burn coal, but was recently converted to run on oil injection.... used motor oil. The slight scent of burning motor oil lingered in the air as we left town.
 

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
The max speed for the track is 15 MPH and it's jointed rail, so the ride is a bit rough rocking back & forth. If you want an idea of what track travel was like in the early days, this trip is for you! We crossed the highway and the grade increased a surprising amount... the locomotive worked hard and pulled all the cars up the hill without slowing. Initially we were in the scrub oak and pine trees and there wasn't much color.... as the elevation gained, we started seeing more Yellow's when we reached the Aspens. There were beautiful views, deep canyons with the Animas River working it's way out of the mountains. We stopped for water a couple times and then once more to pick up some hikers. The weather was crisp and cool, the tracks were tight with some of the cuts of rock being very close to the train cars.

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Once we arrived at Silverton we were instructed that we had 2 hrs before the train left and be onboard by 2:45 PM or find another ride! We walked around town looking for a good lunch spot and noticed that more than half the restaurants and stores were already shut down for the season. We ended up having lunch at the Lacey Rose Saloon, which had an impressive, beautiful bar! Bloody Maria's were enjoyed, since I didn't have to worry about driving back! Lunch was good too. Back on the train in time, we rolled out of town downhill for the trip back. The ride gets a little long in the tooth on the way back, 7 hrs on a train that travels at 15 MPH or less gets tiring. Just after 6 PM we rolled into town, disembarked and walked around town before settling on Italian for dinner, located right next to the depot!

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On Saturday morning we drove back over the passes with the sun hitting the trees different than before.... more pics, eventually pulling off the highway around the switchbacks on the Ouray side of Red Mountain pass. We found some lesser traveled trails with nobody else on them. We explored some old mining structures, a locked up and flooded mine and eventually found the Guston Depot, which had been restored recently.

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After our little exploration, we aired up and hit the road towards home.... another successful Fall Colors Tour in the books! I have some video from the train ride I need to edit, theres A LOT.... I'll post it here once it's all done.
 

spaggyroe

Man Flu Survivor
Location
Lehi
We were there 3 weeks ago Greg. The colors have really come out since then. They were just starting to turn while we were there. Truly one of my favorite parts of the country.
 

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
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Is that a sludge river?

There's a lot of heavy metals from mine tailings in the river, so it looks pretty nasty. I don't know if there any fish in the waters, but I wouldn't eat them. 😬


We were there 3 weeks ago Greg. The colors have really come out since then. They were just starting to turn while we were there. Truly one of my favorite parts of the country.

Fun, I think we caught the tail end of color season... some of leaves were dieing and looked past their prime.
 

Pike2350

Registered User
Location
Salt Lake City
With the train being long in the youth... would you recommend it? I did 12-13 hours in Alaskaa non-stop to Fairbanks...... that wasn't too bad but we had breaks for 3 meals in the dining car
 

I Lean

Mbryson's hairdresser
Vendor
Location
Utah
With the train being long in the youth... would you recommend it? I did 12-13 hours in Alaskaa non-stop to Fairbanks...... that wasn't too bad but we had breaks for 3 meals in the dining car
I've been told you can split the tickets with someone else. Half your group rides one direction and drives back, the other half reverses that.
 

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
With the train being long in the youth... would you recommend it? I did 12-13 hours in Alaskaa non-stop to Fairbanks...... that wasn't too bad but we had breaks for 3 meals in the dining car

I've been told you can split the tickets with someone else. Half your group rides one direction and drives back, the other half reverses that.

You can actually book a bus ride back from Silverton, if you'd rather not make the round trip on the train. Or split tickets like Carl mentioned.
 
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