Slope canyons and more to visit near Durango, Co.?
July 24, 2021 5:08 AM Subscribe
We are going to be in Durango, Co. only 2 days but hope to get tickets to Mesa Verde. (only 14 days in advance) and would like to see a slope canyon, something like Antelope Canyon. Is there anything nearby? Any recommendations for Durango to Santa Fe?
A ride on the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad is highly recommended. Extremely scenic ride through the mountains and prairies in historic passenger coaches behind steam locomotives. It won't be around in it's current form much longer as they are gradually converting the coal-fired locomotives to oil burning and also starting to use diesel engines much more frequently, so it is definitely worth seeing before it is gone. Look it up on YouTube if you have never heard of it; the trip is well worth it.
posted by BiteForce at 6:54 AM on July 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by BiteForce at 6:54 AM on July 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
Closest Slot canyons would be the east end of canyon lands.
Cheesebox canyon
Slot Canyons Map
Heading towards Santa Fe, you can visit Chaco Canyon, the Nuclear Museum at Los Alamos, or El Mal Pais.
posted by nickggully at 9:20 AM on July 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
Cheesebox canyon
Slot Canyons Map
Heading towards Santa Fe, you can visit Chaco Canyon, the Nuclear Museum at Los Alamos, or El Mal Pais.
posted by nickggully at 9:20 AM on July 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Addendum- what about Durango to Santa Fe? things to see
posted by ebesan at 2:42 PM on July 25, 2021
posted by ebesan at 2:42 PM on July 25, 2021
This thread is closed to new comments.
You should be able to get into Mesa Verde NP just fine - I was there a month ago and just rolled up to the park entrance. The tickets are for specific tours of a few of the cliff dwellings, but there's plenty to see even with just driving and walking around even if you're unable to get tickets. A number of facilities are closed either due to the pandemic or road construction (the museum/visitor center in the center of the park near Spruce Tree House and Spruce Tree House itself, the one cliff dwelling that you can access without a tour were both closed. When I was there in June, the loop road that goes out by Cliff Palace was closed but was schedule to reopen soon. Once that reopened, the Mesa Top Loop road was scheduled to be closed - there are a lot of self-guided short walks or viewing spaces along that road that won't be accessible).
The Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP is also sort of nearby, but US 50 is all messed up with construction for a while, so it might be considered inaccessible for your purposes.
posted by LionIndex at 6:03 AM on July 24, 2021 [1 favorite]