Western Slope
La Plata County
29 Porch Notes tied to La Plata County — the local details that change from one part of Colorado to the next.
Places in this county
Money and taxes (1)
Home and property (1)
Water and land (5)
Water and land
In La Plata County, groundwater is not the same everywhere
Whether a La Plata County property can rely on a domestic well depends heavily on the local geology, which varies a lot across the county.
Read note ->Water and land
Lemon Reservoir and Haviland Lake are quieter, non-motorized waters
Lemon Reservoir and Haviland Lake north of Durango offer fishing and calm-water paddling without the big-motor crowds, with boating limited mainly to non-motorized or electric craft.
Read note ->Water and land
The Animas is Durango's river, and a closely watched one
The Animas River is the heart of Durango's outdoor life, and because it drains old mining country upstream, agencies keep a close eye on its water quality, especially since the 2015 Gold King Mine release.
Read note ->Water and land
Vallecito Reservoir is a big-fish lake with boat-inspection rules
Vallecito Reservoir northeast of Durango holds trout, walleye, and trophy northern pike, and trailered or motorized boats need a Colorado Parks and Wildlife inspection before launching.
Read note ->Water and land
Warm springs north of Durango come from faults in the Animas Valley
The thermal springs along the Animas Valley north of Durango, including the Pinkerton and Trimble springs, are fault-controlled geothermal features studied by the Colorado Geological Survey.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire (6)
Outdoors and wildfire
Bodo State Wildlife Area is winter range, not a city park
Bodo State Wildlife Area just outside Durango is managed for deer and elk, needs a hunting or fishing license or SWA pass to enter, and closes to the public in winter.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Durango's trailheads start at the edge of downtown
Durango's natural-surface trail systems begin minutes from Main Avenue, free and open to bikes, hikers, and horses alike.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
On the San Juan National Forest, camping rules change by ranger district
The San Juan National Forest covers much of northern La Plata County, and where you can disperse camp or have a campfire depends on the specific area and any current restrictions.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Perins Peak closes part of the year to protect nesting raptors
Perins Peak State Wildlife Area west of Durango is a peregrine falcon recovery site with seasonal closures that run later into summer than most winter-range closures.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Purgatory Resort: Durango's Mountain in Every Season
Twenty-five miles up US 550 from Durango, Purgatory is the county's flagship resort, with deep San Juan snow in winter and an alpine slide, bike park, and chairlift rides in summer.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
The 416 Fire burn scar still shapes flood risk north of Durango
The 2018 416 Fire burned tens of thousands of acres in the Hermosa Creek area north of Durango, and the burn scar can send fast debris-laden floods down drainages during heavy rain.
Read note ->Cars and driving (3)
Cars and driving
From Durango, the San Juan Skyway loops a whole mountain range
Durango anchors one end of the San Juan Skyway, a 232-mile loop through the San Juans that the federal government has named an All-American Road.
Read note ->Cars and driving
La Plata Canyon Road turns to rough 4WD before Kennebec Pass
La Plata Canyon Road west of Durango starts paved, turns to gravel near the forest boundary, and becomes a rugged 4WD route beyond the campgrounds toward Kennebec Pass.
Read note ->Cars and driving
North of Durango, US 550 climbs the San Juans over Coal Bank and Molas
The drive north from Durango on US 550 is a famous San Juan Skyway stretch over high passes; in winter CDOT may close it during storms, so checking conditions first is routine.
Read note ->Local rules (3)
Local rules
In Durango, short-term rentals are only allowed in certain zones
The City of Durango regulates short-term vacation rentals through permits, allows them only in specific zones, and caps how many can operate in some neighborhoods.
Read note ->Local rules
In La Plata County, your address decides who makes the rules
Durango is a home-rule city with its own rules, while unincorporated La Plata County answers to the county, so jurisdiction depends on exactly where a property sits.
Read note ->Local rules
The Southern Ute reservation covers part of La Plata County, and jurisdiction matters there
The southern part of La Plata County lies within the Southern Ute Indian Reservation, where the Tribe is a sovereign government and jurisdiction can differ from the surrounding county.
Read note ->History and culture (10)
History and culture
Animas City came first, then Durango, then they became one
Animas City was an older settlement just north of Durango that lost out when the railroad chose a new townsite in 1880, and the two eventually merged into modern Durango.
Read note ->History and culture
Durango exists because of a railroad and the mines it served
The narrow-gauge railroad between Durango and Silverton was built to move ore from the San Juan mines, and it helps explain why Durango sits where it does.
Read note ->History and culture
Durango's East 3rd Avenue is a street of historic homes
East 3rd Avenue in Durango is a tree-lined street of older homes long recognized for its historic character; check with the city and History Colorado before changing a property there.
Read note ->History and culture
Durango's Main Avenue is a designated historic district
Downtown Durango's Main Avenue is a recognized historic district whose buildings record the town's mining-era beginnings and later growth as a regional hub.
Read note ->History and culture
Durango's old smelter site has a uranium-era cleanup history
A former Durango smelter became a World War II-era uranium mill, and its cleaned-up tailings were moved to a disposal cell in Bodo Canyon now managed by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Read note ->History and culture
Fort Lewis College began as a fort, then an Indian boarding school
Fort Lewis College traces back to a U.S. Army post first established in 1878 that later became a federal Indian boarding school, a difficult history tied to a tuition-free promise for Native students.
Read note ->History and culture
Ignacio once shipped Depression-era turkeys east by rail
A historic Ignacio building recalls a Depression-era turkey-packing cooperative that shipped birds raised on local farms east by rail, part of La Plata County's farming and ranching backbone.
Read note ->History and culture
La Plata County is named 'the silver' for its mountains and rivers
La Plata County takes its name from the Spanish word for silver, tied to the La Plata Mountains and the La Plata River, one of the streams that drains the county.
Read note ->History and culture
The Iron Horse Bicycle Classic: When Durango Cyclists Race the Train
Every Memorial Day weekend, Durango cyclists try to beat the narrow-gauge steam train to Silverton over two high mountain passes, in a race born from a brothers' bet in 1971.
Read note ->History and culture
The town of Ignacio and the Southern Ute heritage around it
Ignacio, in southern La Plata County, is named for the Ute leader Chief Ignacio and sits at the heart of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe's homeland — history best learned from the Tribes themselves.
Read note ->