Museums

The Powerhouse is the hands-on science museum, in the old coal-fired steam plant at 1333 Camino del Rio. It sits on the river trail, and the historic generators are still part of the building. Exhibits run to air rockets, an augmented-reality sandbox, and a tinker lab, with a quieter hour for toddlers on Tuesday mornings. Hours change between summer and the school year, so check before you go.

The Animas Museum, on 2nd Avenue, is the local history room. Exhibits cover Native history, the railroad and mining years, and the geography that made the town. The collection is photographs and artifacts more than a single spectacle, and the historical society uses it for talks through the year.

The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum is at the depot and covers the steam era that the working railroad is still part of. If you are riding the train, it is the indoor piece of the same story.

The Center of Southwest Studies at Fort Lewis College is free. It opened in 1964 and holds one of the deeper Four Corners collections: pottery, baskets, paintings, and a research library and archive. Exhibits rotate. Weekday hours are longer during the school year and shorter in summer.