Durango & Silverton

The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad runs 45.4 miles up the valley of the Animas River, from Durango in southwest Colorado to the old mining town of Silverton, high in the San Juan Mountains. The Denver & Rio Grande built it in 1881–82 to bring silver and gold ore down from the mines, and trains have run between the two towns ever since.

What rides the line today is the railroad of the 1880s kept in working order: track three feet between the rails, coaches of which the oldest were built in the 1880s, and steam locomotives of 1923–25 that haul the regular summer trains. The climb takes three and a half hours each way. Beyond Rockwood no road follows, and the track clings to a shelf blasted into the granite above the river before running through wilderness to Silverton, at 9,302 ft.

The line was cut off from the rest of the Rio Grande's narrow gauge in 1968 and sold in 1981, and it is now a National Historic Landmark. Summer trains run daily to Silverton from May to November; in winter a shorter train goes as far as Cascade Canyon.

The day begins at the Durango depot, a pale yellow and chocolate-brown building of 1882 on Main Avenue. Passengers must be in their seats half an hour before departure; in high season the first train leaves at 8:15.

For the first hour the train runs north through the open Animas valley, past the hamlet of Hermosa, with US 550 never far away. At Rockwood the road turns off. The line enters the narrow Animas Canyon and the builders' work begins to show: through the gorge the track sits on a shelf blasted out of the granite, and on the Highline the train edges along the cliff with the river far below. Every train takes in the sights the operator lists: the Horseshoe Curve, the High Bridge and the whole of the Animas River Gorge.

Into the wilderness

From Rockwood to Silverton there is no motorized access. The train follows the Animas upstream through the San Juan National Forest, past the wye at Cascade Canyon where the winter trains turn, and past an old water tank in the trees. There is no mobile signal. At the flag stops of Needleton and Elk Park, backpackers collect their packs from the boxcar and set off for Chicago Basin, the Colorado Trail and the high peaks of the Weminuche.

The last stretch climbs out of the canyon into Baker's Park, the wide bowl where prospectors found gold and silver around 1860, and the train pulls up in the middle of Silverton. There are roughly two hours to walk Greene and Blair Streets before the return.

The locomotives

The steam engines are Mikados, 2-8-2s, built for the Rio Grande's narrow gauge: the smaller K-28s by ALCO in 1923, the heavier K-36s by Baldwin in 1925, and No. 493, a K-37 rebuilt from a standard-gauge engine. The railroad's steam locomotives were built as coal burners; since the 416 Fire of 2018 the railroad has been converting them to burn oil, beginning with No. 493 in January 2020. Diesels also work some trains, and the operator notes that motive power can change without notice.

From 2 May to 1 November 2026 the steam train runs to Silverton every day. The 9:00 departure runs all season; in the busier months it is joined by an 8:15 and a 9:45. Each takes about three and a half hours up the canyon, and the return trains leave Silverton in the early afternoon.

Northbound — Durango to Silverton

Southbound — Silverton to Durango

The round trip pairs your morning train with an afternoon return, for a day of about nine hours with close to two in Silverton. The 9:00 comes back at 14:45.

Good to know:

• Be seated 30 minutes before departure. Seats that are still empty then can be released to people waiting.
• Train one way, bus the other. The railroad's own coaches run the 52 miles of US 550 between the two towns from 19 May to 11 October; the morning bus is $10 on top of the train fare. On The Silverton Express you take the 12:00 bus up and the 14:00 train back, and are in Durango by 17:30.
• Hikers: the 8:15 calls at the wilderness flag stops for Needleton and Elk Park (19 May to 17 October), and from 8 September to 11 October the 9:45 does too. The 9:00 never stops at them. Wilderness bookings are by phone only.
• In winter the Cascade Canyon Winter Train runs on selected dates from 20 November to 30 April: it leaves Durango at 09:15, reaches Cascade Canyon at 11:15, leaves again at 12:15 after an hour's layover, and is back at 14:30. It goes 26 miles each way, not to Silverton.

Times as of September 2026, from the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad's published 2026 schedule; the three summer departures confirmed in its booking system for 30 September. Confirm before travelling on durangotrain.com (opens in a new tab).

Every seat is assigned and booked in advance, and the 2026 fares are all-in, including the railroad's 8 % Historic Preservation Fee. A round trip and a one-way ride cost the same. Standard Class is $118 in a coach or $129 in an open gondola; the Deluxe San Juan coach is $161; First Class runs from $226 to $259, with the glass-roofed Silver Vista at $233; and Presidential Class in the Cinco Animas is $313. Children aged 4 to 11 pay $10 less in Standard Class, and under-4s on a lap ride free.

Some First Class cars and the Presidential car are adults only, and several are sold in pairs. Changes and cancellations go through the ticket office by phone; cancelling costs $14 per adult, and nothing is refunded within five days of the trip. Fares checked September 2026 at durangotrain.com (opens in a new tab); US dollars.

No national rail pass covers this train. The Durango & Silverton is an independent railroad that sells its own tickets; Amtrak's USA Rail Pass is valid on Amtrak's own services, and Interrail and Eurail do not apply anywhere in the United States.

The railroad sells a pass of its own: a season pass with unlimited Standard Class travel on its regular trains, subject to space, a waived backpack fee for hikers, and 10 % off selected special-event trains. It is only worth it for someone riding several times in a season, and the 2026 passes were sold until 31 May, by phone or online. For a single visit, buy the ticket.

Checked September 2026 against durangotrain.com (opens in a new tab).

Durango and Silverton are the two ends of the line, and both are worth more than the time the train gives them. Beyond them, the train drops hikers into the high country, US 550 carries on north over the mountains to Ouray, and Mesa Verde lies west of Durango.

Two hotels from the mining boom, one at each end of the line: the Strater on Durango's Main Avenue, a few blocks from the depot, and the Grand Imperial on Silverton's Greene Street, for a night in Silverton after the day trippers have gone.

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