Help finalize my Colorado activities & lodging

Regarding the National Parks Admission passes...there is the America the Beautiful pass for $80 a year. If anyone in your group is 62 or older they can get the Senior Pass for a one-time fee of $10 which will cover a total of 4 people. Just did a drive-by of Great Sand Dunes yesterday and it is $3/person.

You can go to www.nps.gov and look up your admissions to each park you plan to see on this trip or over the next year to decide if you come out ahead with the America the Beautiful pass.

I'm in Durango right now, having arrived last night. I didn't calculate the time very well from Colorado Spgs to here via Great Sand Dunes and with just a drive by there, leaving CS about 11. We rolled in here about 815. Pagosa Spgs is an hour or so east. It was pretty slow coming from Alamosa to Pagosa with truck traffic. However the pass east of Pagosa was gorgeous.

We did the steam train to Silverton today. I'm not particularly a steam train fan (have been on several over the years) &up and back (7hours on the train) was more than I enjoyed!! The scenery was gorgeous though.

Have fun!

There is a National Parks annual pass for $80. (http://www.nps.gov/findapark/passes.htm) I bought this one year when we did a grand tour of Utah's National Parks. Different parks charge different admissions, so check with the specific parks to determine if it is a good deal.

-- EDIT --
Oops. I didn't notice the previous response. Sorry to be repetitious.

There is easy to moderate hiking at Garden of the Gods, many of the trails are relatively short and many don't have a lot of elevation gain.
The hikes at Mesa Verde start at a relatively high elevation, which makes them more strenuous than the mileage or elevation gain would indicate.

Thanks for the good tips

The following may be useful if you want to hike into the Ice Lake basin

Assuming you are starting at the South Mineral Creek Trailhead at 9,820 ft.
The lower ice lake is approx. 2 miles in and at 11,400 ft - i.e. an elevation gain of ~1,600 ft
The upper ice lake is approx. 3.5 miles from the trailhead and at 12,280 ft - so an elevation gain of ~2,400 ft

A rough rule of thumb that is used in CO hiking is that a 'moderate' pace covers approx 2 miles and 1000 ft every hour. Hence assume about 2 hrs into the lower lake and 1 hr to return not counting the time you spend at the lake. I would guesstimate that a hike into the upper ice lake will take you 4.5-6 hrs roundtrip.

Do make sure to carry plenty of liquids and warm clothing as the weather up high will be much colder - on average in CO, the temp falls approx 4 degrees for every 1000 ft in elevation that you ascend.

To the OP: You wouldn't want to under-estimate the strenuousness of a hike starting at 10,000 feet and ending at 12,000 feet, compared to hiking the same distances at lower elevations.

Unless you really have your heart set on staying in Mesa Verde I'd suggest just staying in Durango - it's a short drive from the NP and would save you a day of relocating unnecessarily.
As others have mentioned, don't underestimate the physical demands of hiking at altitude. Stay hydrated. Slather on the sunscreen.
Personal preference here, but we did the Durango RR in May and frankly were unimpressed. Better to just drive from Durango north to Silverton - scenery just as beautiful (if not more so), plus you can take it at your leisure, stop when you want for photo ops, etc. and not be stuck on the train all day...which we thought got a little tedious after a while.
Red Rock Canyon is just across rte 24 from Garden of the Gods - some pretty walks there too.

I can highly recommend High Country Lodge, in Pagosa Springs, CO. They have both rustic, very clean cabins and hotel type rooms with breakfast included. There are hot tubs for soaking and loads of hummingbirds to watch. They are on Highway 160 just east of downtown.

We stayed a week there last summer and made a day trip to Mesa Verde. Their website is www.highcountrylodge.com

Thanks for the tips, and keep them coming. I have now locked in lodging on most of the first part of the trip, except for Pagosa Springs. My schedule has been slightly adjusted due to lodging. I have currently gotten 3 nights (including final night) through Hotwire, and I am happy with what I got, but good deals are rare on my itinerary. There were a few good leads on Priceline which lead me to get some lodging directly from the source. Lodging on Days 5 & 6 is at Purgatory Resort, 25 miles north of Durango. Days 7 & 8 are now in Telluride, not Ouray, which is somewhat of a disappointment but not that big of a deal. I am now considering what to do with days 9, 10 & 11. Possibly sticking around the southwest more or going up in the Gunnison, Buena Vista, Leadville direction and staying there instead of Glenwood Springs. Any ideas on where to stay in that vicinity, that would cut down on the second to last day drive to Denver? Is Gunnison worth staying at? Also, Is it worth paying an overpriced amount to stay at the Springs Resort & Spa in Pagosa Springs that has all the fancy springs, or are there better lodging/springs options there? (thanks for the advice concerning the lodge)

Instead of staying in Gunnison, consider Crested Butte - great town and depending on when you are there the wildflowers could be fantastic. On your way back to Denver, you can drive over Cottonwood Pass (part of this is unpaved but driveable in passenger cars) rather than go back to Gunnison and drive over Monarch Pass.