Silverton is a short and beautiful drive over Red Mountain Pass. The town is set up to entertain the folks who come up from Durango on the train for a few hours. It's a cute mining town with a few restaurants, ice cream shops and, my favorite, funnel cakes.
From Silverton it is easy driving to Animas Forks, a ghost town. If the jeep roads are open, folks should be able to take a jeep tour or rent a jeep (there are several places in Ouray that rent jeeps). You can drive over Cinnamon Pass to Lake City, or Engineer from Silverton which is also fairly tame driving (or used to be about 25 years ago).
There are a few art galleries and jewelry stores in Ouray. Durango has better art galleries, and is a much bigger town. It is a fairly easy day drive over US 550 to Durango, 160 to Mancos, Colo 184 to Dolores, Colo 145 to Telluride and then pick up Colo 62 back over to Ridgeway, and US 550.
From Silverton it is easy driving to Animas Forks, a ghost town. If the jeep roads are open, folks should be able to take a jeep tour or rent a jeep (there are several places in Ouray that rent jeeps). You can drive over Cinnamon Pass to Lake City, or Engineer from Silverton which is also fairly tame driving (or used to be about 25 years ago).
There are a few art galleries and jewelry stores in Ouray. Durango has better art galleries, and is a much bigger town. It is a fairly easy day drive over US 550 to Durango, 160 to Mancos, Colo 184 to Dolores, Colo 145 to Telluride and then pick up Colo 62 back over to Ridgeway, and US 550.