Silverton, Colorado

Silverton is the San Juans with the polish left off: a short main street of brick and false-front buildings, and a town whose summer still turns on the narrow-gauge train from Durango, which has run between the two since 1882. Ride it up and stay the night, and you get the quiet evening after the day-trippers leave, with jeep roads and high basins starting at the edge of town. It suits people who want a base for big mountain days rather than shopping or fine dining. Winter is sleepy and serious, with deep snow, high passes on both sides and a real sense of being cut off.