Thar’s Silver In Them Hills

Once the stomping ground of silver kings and railroad giants, Silverton survives today as one of Colorado’s most endearing destinations.

That is Silverton’s main drag. While there is no more mining here, there is still tons of character.

After Mesa Verde Nat’l Park we drove back to Durango and then headed north on 550 through the San Juan National Forest – BEAUTIFUL! With the hour growing late, and the gas tank getting empty we stopped in Silverton for the night. The sweetest lil town ever with a population around 500, and probably about 100 in the winter. We picked the Grand Imperial Hotel to stay at, built in the late 1800s and I believe our 2 double bed room was $90. Much better than our $200 from the Best Western in Durango. And it had much more character! Here is our lovely room, complete with ceiling fan, creaky floors and a window that wouldn’t shut all the way. But completely Silverton, and completely perfect.

Hungry for something, anything, the hotel manager said we needed to hurry because all would soon be closing their kitchens around 9pm. We stumbled upon the Silverton Brewery where mom and I had a brat (pretty good) and dad had the overflowing plate of nachos topped with everything (really good). I bought a long-sleeved t-shirt and we headed back to our room and called it an early night.

The next morning I woke up at the hour of 7am (wahhhhhhhhh) and couldn’t go back to sleep. So I noisily (i didn’t mean it, the floor boards are super creaky!) got dressed, grabbed the camera and went for a crisp morning walk down the five blocks of Silverton. Check it out.