Durango, CO Chamber of Commerce

Elevation

8, 000 legs above sea-level

Climate

Change area between semi-arid and hill, summer time daytime temps in 70's and 80's, nighttime lows into the 50’s. Winter daytime temps into the 40’s, nighttime lows inside 10’s.

Populace

Roughly 400 – 500 regular residents; 2, 000 summer just residents

National Woodland

San Juan National Woodland

Mountain Range

San Juan Number Of the Rocky Mountains

Wilderness

Weminuche Wild Region

Place

More or less 18 miles northeast of Durango in Southwestern Colorado enclosed by over 2.5 million acres of public land on all sides

Nearby Towns

Durango, Ignacio, Bayfield

Nickname

Lake of Little Valley

History

Among the largest and most stunning figures of water in Colorado. Vallecito, Spanish for "Little Valley" and ancestral residence to numerous of Colorado's Ute Indians

Vallecito Reservoir

• Vallecito Dam had been built 1938 – 1941
• 12 miles of shoreline
• Stocked with Trout, Kokeonee Salmon, Pike
• Fee location for boating and parking: Pine River Irrigation District, 970-884-2558

Vallecito Dam

162-foot-high earth-fill structure, containing 3, 738, 000 cubic yards of material. Vallecito Dam is in the Pine River, 18 miles northeast of Durango. The reservoir has actually a complete capacity of 129, 700 acre-feet. The spillway is a gate-controlled, concrete-lined available channel, 2, 300 foot very long in the correct abutment. The outlet is a twin part tangible conduit through correct abutment associated with the dam.

Community Center

Center with contemporary amenities and splendid hill lake views, ideal for team rentals including weddings, household reunions, and community group meetings with interior and yard available. Call (970) 884-6080.

Streams & Creeks

Pine River, Los Pinos River, Freeman Creek, Vallecito Creek and numerous tiny creeks

Winter Strategies

• Cross-country snowboarding with groomed and ungroomed trails
• Snowshoeing on many trails
• Dog sledding
• Snowmobiling on Middle Mountain

Guest Ranches

Full-service guest ranches with all-inclusive resort services.

Boating

The greatest human anatomy of water in Colorado only at that elevation or higher, Vallecito Lake is encircled with majestic views into the Weminuche wild. With numerous 12, 000 and 13, 000 foot peaks, here simply isn't another boating experience enjoy it in Colorado. Boat ramp opens up in-may and closes in October

Marina

One full solution marina: Doc’s Marina. Boat, canoe, paddleboat and pontoon rentals, gas, launch, fishing and sporting goods.

ATV's

Rentals readily available.

The Tour of Carvings

The journey of Carvings commemorates the Missionary Ridge Fire of 2002. Vallecito Lake houses thousands of Ponderosa Pine trees with several over 200 years of age and standing up to 175 legs high, a number of the woods had been lost in fire. Regional musician Chad Haspels created many of the fallen woods to memorialize the wildfire and fire fighters.. the majority of the carvings tend to be mounted on concrete piers and may be found throughout the lake area. They have several and name assigned to aid in identification. Each one of these stands 18 feet high and weighs in at around 2, 600 pounds.

Camping

3 Full-service RV and Cabin Resorts along side 7 seasonally-maintained woodland provider campgrounds

Lodging

Cabins, lodges, resorts, RV parks, camp web sites, camper areas and vacation homes

Fishing

The southwestern 50 % of the Weminuche Wilderness Area is drained by two major streams-the Los Pinos and Florida Rivers-and their tributaries. Vallecito Reservoir, in which water from the Pine and Vallecito Creek is impounded, is perfect for those seeking less of a wilderness experience. It provides easy access and enormous fish such as for instance rainbow, brown trout, and northern pike. Browns hold in this region all year and mid-May through mid-June is the best for pike. The reservoir provides an excellent possibility to fish in late spring, once the streams in the region are high with runoff.

Horse Riding

Hourly trips, breakfast rides, all-day and several time rides. Fall color rides also readily available.

Shopping

The Weminuche wild, which will be effortlessly accessed from the Vallecito Lake location, is Colorado's biggest, supplying above a 1 / 2 million acres of public land. In a lot of respects, the Weminuche is a patio adventurer's nirvana. Hunters and hikers alike can drop themselves for several days on its 500 miles of tracks. The location around Vallecito Lake is a high choose for shopping Elk, Mule Deer, Turkey and Bear.