Why not grab Fido and Spot and your family and friends and get off the Front Range for a change of scenery? Colorado doesn’t stop at Rocky Mountain National Park or even the Vail Valley, y’know! If you time it right, you might even catch some autumn colors along your six-and-a-half-hour Denver to Durango trek.

Not too far from the New Mexico border, Durango is a perfect place to start exploring the area. Home to the liberal arts-oriented Fort Lewis College and 18,500 local residents, Durango is an interesting mix of college town and Old West in a setting of stark southwest beauty. The old downtown offers quaint and charming amenities, from brew pubs to coffee shops and galleries. Be sure to leave time for window shopping and wandering.

When you’re in town, consider staying at the historic Strater Hotel on Main Street. The red brick hotel dates to 1887 and is referred to as “Durango’s living history museum.” Visit www.strater.com for information. The lobby boasts historic displays and old-time craftsmanship, and is worth seeing even if you don’t stay overnight.

No trip to Durango would be complete without a ride on the famed Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad steam train, which runs on 133-year-old track, the ultimate “moving” history experience. The 45-mile route traverses towering mountains and deep canyons along the Animas River, a stretch of breathtaking wilderness you won’t be able to see any other way. This is a seasonal operation that runs through October 27 so be sure to visit soon! Go to www.durangotrain.com for details and tickets, and be sure to leave some time to stroll around the on-site museum which is full of vintage railroad equipment.

Historical relics in southwest Colorado, known for its ancient ruins, certainly pre-date the railroad and mining era. Thirty-five miles from Durango is Mesa Verde National Park, home to 5,000 Anasazi (ancestral Pueblo) sites, including 600 cliff dwellings – some of which are villages of more than 150 rooms. These structures were inhabited from the late 1190s to about 1300, by which time the population had migrated to what is now present-day New Mexico and Arizona. Call 970-529-4465 or visit www.nps.gov/meve/index.htm to plan your trip. Mesa Verde has some of the most significant and best-preserved sites in North America. The park is open year ‘round but some features are only open seasonally, so check the schedule and get there before things start to close. If you want a ranger-guided tour of the cliff dwellings, you’ll need to purchase tickets in advance.