Durango, Colorado Must Do's You haven’t really been to Durango until you’ve gone on the Durango-Silverton Railroad. This is about three hours one way. I highly recommend that you take the train up, but a bus on the return trip. Explore amazing Mesa Verde National Park with its ancient cave dwellings. Starting 1,400 years ago, the ancestors to modern New Mexico’s Pueblo Indians lived and flourished here for over 700 years. In 1300 AD, Mesa Verde was deserted for reasons still unknown.