Colorado's 'Gateway To The San Juans' Is A Walkable, Fun Mountain Town With Endless Exciting Recreation

While Rocky Mountain National Park gets plenty of fanfare, the Rockies are spread across several mountain ranges in the Centennial State. One of those is the San Juan Mountain range in the state's southwestern corner, a spot definitely worth adding to your list of best Colorado destinations to visit. The perfect place to use as your base camp is the town of Del Norte, a small town of just about 1,400 people that Visit Rio Grande County calls the "Gateway to the San Juans." It gives you easy access to a plethora of outdoor activities and to an abundance of beautiful desert and mountain scenery.

Del Norte is located about three hours north of Santa Fe along the banks of the Rio Grande River. The closest major international airports are in Albuquerque and Denver, both around four hours away, but commuter airlines can get you closer by flying into Colorado Springs, Durango, or Farmington. It's also a little less than an hour's drive west across the San Luis Valley from the Great Sand Dunes National Park, home to the tallest dunes in North America.

The town's small size means it's quick and easy to wander through much of it. Around Grand Avenue, which runs through the center of town, there are a number of boutique restaurants and shops to check out. Also in downtown is the Three Barrel Brewing Company, which makes craft beer using local ingredients. Just off the avenue, the Rio Grande County Museum and Cultural Center has exhibits on the area's history. If you want to stay in the heart of Del Norte, the 20-room Windsor Hotel has been a mainstay in town since the 1870s.

If you're visiting Del Norte, and you love the outdoors, you have to check out Penitente Canyon. About 20 minutes north of town, the canyon got its name from the monks who lived near here in the early 1900s. Rock climbers love it; it has some fantastic sport climbing with more than 300 routes. The colorful rock is volcanic tuff, formed from multiple volcanic events 20 to 30 million years ago.

Penitente Canyon is also a good spot for hiking and mountain biking, with 17 miles of trails. It's particularly pretty during spring and summer, when wildflowers bloom in the canyon. Along the 1.7-mile Penitente Canyon Trail, you can see pictographs made thousands of years ago by indigenous people as well as a painting of the Virgin of Guadalupe that dates to the 1980s.  The Wagon Tracks Trail lets you walk in the footsteps of history and features ruts worn into the rocks from the wheels of the carts of Mexican settlers. This trail was once part of the Old Spanish Trail, which connected present-day New Mexico with Southern California. 

There's first-come, first-served camping available at Penitente Canyon. Back in town, the Woods and River RV Park is right along the Rio Grande River, giving you easy access to river fun like fishing and kayaking. The Del Norte area also has great trout fishing along the Upper Rio Grande and the surrounding streams.

Mountain bikers should plan a stop at the Stone Quarry Trails. Less than 10 minutes' drive from town, there are around 7.5 miles of trails in the high desert, with good options for intermediate to advanced riders. Another fun mountain biking spot is Bishop Rock. It's a veritable playground where you can ride anywhere you choose amidst the slickrock. 

If you're a hiker looking for a challenge, the Middle Frisco Trail in the Rio Grande National Forest takes you about 6.5 miles up to San Francisco Lakes. For fantastic views, La Garita Natural Arch is a unique volcanic formation about a 25-minute drive from Del Norte. It's a short but steep scramble up to the arch itself, and on a clear day, you can see out over the San Luis Valley and to the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. For something more low-key, there are a few miles of trails at Lookout Mountain just south of town.

Kayakers and rafters will love the play wave in Del Norte, near the Riverfront Park. Birdwatchers should explore the Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge; the wetlands here attract migrating birds by the thousands. Perhaps most notably, it's a stopover site for sandhill cranes in spring, and there's an annual crane festival in early March at the refuge. If you're looking to make a Colorado road trip while you're visiting Del Norte, it's a bit over 2 hours to Durango, an under-the-radar city with fantastic autumn views and fun festivals. And Durango is on the San Juan Skyway Scenic Byway, which takes you on a 236-mile loop through the San Juan Mountains.