Colorado is THE place to visit! I mean people from all over the world come to this state because it is just beyond beautiful!! When we drive up from Texas to visit Colorado, we enter through the south side and the first town we drive through is Durango!
I LOVE DURANGO!! This adorable little town is tucked in the mountains, it has a gorgeous white water river running through it, and it is beautiful! Durango has a small town feel to it, but if offers so much! Well known for its railroad, whitewater rafting, and ski resorts; it seems like a very adult town. It is a very adult place, but you would be surprised by how fun Durango can be with kids!
Is Durango A Good Place For Kids?
I am a mother of 4 kids; a 5 year old, 4 year old, 2 year old, and a 6 month old. Every year we come up from Texas to visit family in the Mancos/Cortez area. Every year we spend a lot of time exploring Durango, Colorado and I LOVE it. I am not the only one too, my kids love it!
Though Durango has a lot of adult centered activities, it also has plenty of family friendly ones. The great part about the activities that Durango offers is that the majority of the activities are outdoors. As a mom, I always consider it a win to have fun outdoors with my kids!
Durango is not your average town to take kids to, but it is one that you and your kids will enjoy together, because all of the activities you can do are things you can do together! I personally thing Durango is the perfect vacation destination for kids!
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Family Friendly Things To Do In Durango With Kids
Pet a Snake At The Powerhouse
Believe it or not in the middle of this Colorado town, surrounded by the mountains there is a science museum! This is not a place you would picture a science museum, but there it is right by the river in an old power plant. It isn’t the biggest science museum, but we still enjoyed it. I mean science is pretty much magic explained right!?
The museum is super interactive with multiple science projects, animals, an active garden for kids to work, an indoor treehouse, books, toys, and dinosaurs! My kids favorites were finding Blue the velociraptor from Jurassic World, petting a real live snake, building a foam playhouse, cooking fake food in the outdoor playhouse, and making the balls float in the air. They were begging me to let them stay when we left! This will be your little kids favorite thing to do in Durango, Colorado!
Location: 1295 Camino Del Rio, Durango, CO 81301
Admission: $9 per person, under 1 yrs old FREE
Hours: everyday, 9:30am-3:30pm
Enjoy the flowers at Durango Botanical Gardens
To really see how absolutely beautiful southwestern Colorado can be, then walking through the Durango Botanical Garden is one of the best places to visit. Best part is, its FREE!!
The garden is located on the south side of the library. A portion of the riverwalk is located on the south side of the library and this is where the garden is located. It is just a small garden, but it is so colorful and displays all of the native Colorado wildflowers that we love!
This garden isn’t just God’s coloring book though, it also has several other art sculptures spread throughout the garden.
Location: Durango Public Library, Animas River Trail, 1900 E 3rd Ave, Durango, CO 81301
Admission: FREE
Hours: open 24 hrs
Swim At Durango Hot Springs Resort & Spa
Colorado has about 30 hot springs scattered all over the state, and one of those is located right in Durango. Though the resort is obviously used for wellness and relaxation in adults, it is also a great place for families to have a good time.
There are 32 pools located at this resort, most are adult only pools, but the others are set aside for families! During the summer the Animas River is a great place to swim, but during the winter these hot springs are the place to be!
Location: 6475 Co Rd 203, Durango, CO 81301
Admission: $39 adults, $15 children
Hours: everyday 9am-9pm
Feed Fish At Durango Fish Hatchery
We lived in Colorado for a while and oddly enough one of our favorite things to do is visit fish hatcheries! A fish hatchery is a place with a series of tanks filled with fish. It is like a fish breeding farm. Once the fish have grown the state of Colorado takes the adult fish and releases them into the lakes and rivers of the area.
So why do we love fish hatcheries? For one it is like a zoo for fish! You can walk from tank to tank and look at fish of all sizes. Second reason we love it is that not only do you get to see the fish, but you get to feed them too!!
The food for the fish is located in the coin 25 cent machines located on the property, so don’t forget to bring some quarters. You will not want to miss feeding these fish. You throw the food into the tank and the fish go CRAZY! I mean they are jumping out of the water and flipping all around crazy! My kids love it, and I think its pretty fun too!
Location: 151 E 16th St, Durango, CO 81301
Admission: FREE, food 25 cents
Hours: everyday 8am-4pm
Float Down The Animas River
One thing I LOVE about Colorado is that there is water everywhere! You are never far away from lakes, ponds, creeks, or rivers! Durango has the Animas River running right through it. Actually during the summer, whitewater rafting is the thing to do in the area. Now obviously you are probably not going to want to go white water rafting down the Animas River with little kids, but you can go water tubing down a portion of the river!
Now if you don’t want to float down the river I totally understand, but you really should at least spend a day at a Colorado beach! Oxbow Park and Preserve has a perfect play area/beach area for you and the kiddos to play and swim at. The water here is not as strong so it is still fun for kids to play in.
I would still put life jackets on your kiddos that can’t really swim, just because rivers are unpredictable. Not gonna lie too, the water is cold and the riverbank rocky; so I suggest water shoes as well.
Location: 500 Animas View Dr, Durango, CO 81301
Soak In The Pinkerton Hot Springs
Now if you don’t want to spend a ton of money to soak up the warm water of a hot springs, I totally get it. The Durango hot springs is super expensive, and as a mama of 4 kids I am always game for the free stuff to do. That is why we love Pinkerton Hot Springs! I will tell you right now it is nothing like any other hot springs you have probably ever seen.
This hot springs are located north of Durango, right off the roadside, you can’t miss it! It is super unique and looks like a giant mound of orange rock. The water pouring out of this rock flows into a large pool behind the rock. This pool is maybe deep enough to reach just above an adults kneecaps, so it isn’t for swimming just for soaking.
I will admit too that the water is not really hot, more like lukewarm. It is still pleasant to soak in though. Besides the big pool there is a small bathtub that the water flows into and another smaller pool to sit in. There is not a lot of room for a lot of people, but it is still a fun place to stop.
My kids had so much fun playing in the water, but it was very slippery. Just watch out for the moss and algae growing on the rocks and wear good water shoes!
Location: 35554 US-550, Durango, CO 81301
Admission: FREE
Hours: open 24 hrs
Watch The Bees At Honeyville
While you are up by the Pinkerton Hot Springs, be sure to stop by Honeyville and grab yourself a honey stick! This adorable little honey distillery is decorated with all things bees and honey. They have the biggest selection of honey I have ever seen.
There is a little window where you can watch the busy bees do their work to make the honey and even sometimes watch the people that distill the honey in the factory. It is just an adorable store with delicious sweet treats.
Location: 33633 US-550, Durango, CO 81301
Hours: everyday, 9am-6pm
Swim At Durango Community Recreation Center
Durango is a beautiful place, but it is also a pretty cold place at certain times of the year. So when you want to go swimming the cold weather can be quite inconvenient. That is when the Durango rec center comes in handy!
This is the perfect place to take kids in Durango, Colorado! Not only is there a pool, but there is a wave pool, waterslides, a ramp beach area, and a castle! Swimming is always a win with kids and this rec center offers such a variety it that it is fun for all ages!
Location: 2700 Main Ave, Durango, CO 81301
Admission: $6 ages 4-17, $7.50 ages 18-61, $6.50 ages 62-89, ages 90+ FREE, ages 3 and under FREE
Hours: Mon-Fri 5:45am-8pm, Sat 9am-6pm, Sun 12pm-4pm
Hike to Falls Creek Waterfall
It would simply be a crime to visit any part of Colorado and no go for a hike! The cool thing is too, that almost everywhere you go in this gorgeous state, you will find a waterfall trail. Yep, we are waterfall chasers and proud of it! This short hike to and from the waterfalls is so much fun due to the variety you hike in just the 0.8miles!
Start the hike in a meadow, then into the woods, over a bridge, up dirt mounds, and down a rock trail to this gorgeous waterfall. You can even climb down and get behind the waterfall! Such an easy and fun hike to do with kids. Also a fun place to let them play in the creek!
Location:
Distance: 0.81 miles there and back
Difficulty: Easy
Go On A Mural Hunt Downtown Durango
If you follow me on Instagram @westtexastravelmom or even my other blog articles, you will know I am a huge fan of mural hunts. First off, its a free activity! Second it is like going to a free art museum. Plus it is like a scavenger hunt, so it is a super fun thing to do with my kids! Durango has a really beautiful selection of murals.
Here are some of our favorites:
Places To Eat In Durango With Kids
Home Slice Pizza
THIS IS THE BEST PIZZA EVER! I am obsessed and can never visit Durango without grabbing some Home Slice pizza! There are 3 locations in Durango, because that is how good this pizza is! Each is decorated so cute with ski fences, and a country rustic look.
There is a giant variety of pizzas that they offer! I mean so much that you will want to always order their half pizzas just so you can try 2 at once! My favorites are: Yard Bird (chicken bbq), Ibiza (pepperoncini, tomato, meat), and of course the Meatzza (meat lovers).
Locations and Hours:
441 E College Dr, Durango, CO 81301, everyday 11am-10pm
2957 Main Ave, Durango, CO 81301, everyday 11am-10pm
125 Mercado St, Durango, CO 81301, Mon-Sat 11am-9pm, Sun 4pm-9pm
Bar D Chuckwagon
If you are lookin for a dinner and a show full of laughs than Bar D Chuckwagon is the place to eat! This giant chuckwagon will give you a selection of delicious country cooked meals and while you eat you will get serenaded by a group of old cowboys! Such a fun family friendly experience and meal!
Location: 8080 Co Rd 250, Durango, CO 81301
Hours: everyday 4:30pm-9pm
Griegos Restaurant
Now I live in Texas, so I am around a lot of Hispanic food, but nothing quite beats Griegos. Whenever we visit Durango, I always want Home Slice Pizza and my husband always wants Griegos! This delicious Mexican food restaurant will make you sweat with how hot the Chile sauce is! And the sopapillas are SO good! Don’t forget to get you iconic Greetings from Durango picture by the mural outdoors!
Location: 2603 Main Ave, Durango, CO 81301
Hours: Tues, Wed, Sat 10am-5pm & Thurs-Fri 10am-7pm
Cream Bean Berry
Just what every post hike deserves…ice cream!! Of course normally I go for chocolate or vanillas, but sure Balsamic Strawberry and Honey Lavender works too! They have the strangest flavors at the Cream Bean Berry, but oddly enough they are delicious!
Don’t forget to grab a bottle of Durango’s own soda pop either, Zuberfizz!!
Location: 1021 Main Ave, Durango, CO 81301
Hours: everyday 12pm-9pm
Fun Parks And Playgrounds In Durango:
My Final Thoughts On Durango:
The first time I visited Durango, Colorado I thought there is nothing to do here for kids! How dead wrong was I!? I mean this town is the best kind of place to visit with kids! Not only is there a large assortment of activities and hikes to do, it is almost all outdoors and all family bonding activities!
There is nothing better than watching your kids skip rocks on the river, jump from rock to rock on a hike, climb trees, and ski down a mountain! This is what Durango has to offer, not just a family vacation, but a promise of a deeper connection as a family and memories to last forever!
Day Trips From Durango, Colorado:
Mesa Verde National Park
The Wigglin Pig
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