weekender.
Weekend trips from Fort Lewis College
Hidden spots near Durango, day trips and weekend road trips from Fort Lewis College in November, scored 1–10 on price, timing and what's happening, with gas, park fees, a campsite or room and food included.
Plan your own trip from Fort Lewis College →Day trips
Mesa Verde
Whole villages built into cliff alcoves 800 years ago; climb ladders into them on ranger tours.
Telluride
A box-canyon mining town with a free gondola to the ski village and Colorado's tallest waterfall.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison
A canyon so deep and narrow that parts get 33 minutes of sun a day; the Painted Wall is 2,250 feet.
Weekend trips
Great Sand Dunes
The tallest dunes in North America under snowy peaks, with a beach creek in spring.
Mesa Verde
Whole villages built into cliff alcoves 800 years ago; climb ladders into them on ranger tours.
Petrified Forest
Rainbow logs of stone and the Painted Desert's badlands along old Route 66.
Monument Valley
The red buttes from a hundred westerns, on the Navajo Nation (entry per person).
Canyonlands
Mesa Arch framing the sunrise over a maze of canyons the Colorado River carved.
Arches & Moab
Over 2,000 stone arches (Delicate Arch at sunset), with Moab's mountain biking and jeep trails.
Long weekends
Great Sand Dunes
The tallest dunes in North America under snowy peaks, with a beach creek in spring.
Grand Canyon South Rim
The Rim Trail at sunset and a few switchbacks into the canyon (going down is optional, up is not).
Petrified Forest
Rainbow logs of stone and the Painted Desert's badlands along old Route 66.
Sedona
Red rock buttes, slot-canyon swimming holes and a dark-sky town (Red Rock Pass $5 a car).
Zion
Wade up the Narrows slot canyon and hike Angels Landing (permit lottery).
Monument Valley
The red buttes from a hundred westerns, on the Navajo Nation (entry per person).
Personalize it
Set your budget, how many friends are coming, your car (or no car: train and bus), and what you're into (hiking, beaches, camping, stargazing, food and more), and Weekender re-ranks every trip for you, with a day-by-day plan, directions and campsites.
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