The Colorado Trail: Colorado’s 486 Mile Trail

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERASummer is officially here! With the start of summer comes one of our favorite local past times—hiking in the mountains. The Southwest region of Colorado offers extensive hiking and trails. In fact, did you know Durango is a terminus to the Colorado Trail? This trail encompasses a significant portion of the state of Colorado—486 miles! One terminus is located just southwest of Denver, and the other is right outside of Durango. Most people tend to start at the Denver location and work their way east to west. The entire trail generally takes 4-6 weeks to complete, depending on the pace.

The highest elevation point is 13,271 feet; the Colorado Trail passes through six National Forests, six wilderness areas, and eight mountain ranges! This is quite the adventure! Some people choose just to explore portions of the trail, and adventurers hike, bike, camp, horseback ride and more. In fact, some like to enter the trail by taking the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad.

This weekend, June 24-26, local company Backcountry Experience is offering the first annual Colorado Trail Days, with seminars, food, tent and equipment demos, and more. Seminar topics include: layering, lightening up backpacking, map and compass skills, fire building without matches (for kids), and more! This sounds like a great weekend to welcome the start of summer and Colorado’s hiking season.

Hopefully you’ll get a chance to explore some of our local hikes and backpacking and camping adventures. The Colorado Trail is one amazing spot to enjoy, and we are blessed to live in such close proximity! Here is extensive information about the Colorado Trail, and helpful resources for enjoying it: www.coloradotrail.org

This post has been provided courtesy of The Durango Team

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