Durango

Vestiges of Durango's past as a mining and smelting center during the 1900s gold and silver booms are still present in the Victorian downtown area. The remains of a much earlier community can be seen nearby at Mesa Verde National Park; tours are offered of the largest and best presesrved site of Anasazi cliff dwellings still intact in the Southwest. The city is an entrance point for some of the truly scenic portions of the state amid the San Juan Mountain Range and San Juan National Forest. Durango is also the home of Fort Lewis College. The area attracts cowboys and cowgirls to the many professional rodeos held here in the summer and fall.