Meet Brooke Mooney | Activity coordinator and guide for Durango and surrounding areas.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Brooke Mooney and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Brooke, what’s the most important lesson your business/career has taught you?
The most important lesson my business has taught me is details really really matter and always be over prepared. There will definitely be unexpected things that come up.

What should our readers know about your business?
Discover Durango developed out of what I absolutely love to do, which is give people an incredible experience in the outdoors with the people they love. I’ve spent so many years planning family reunions, events, multi family ski vacations, group camp trips, etc. It’s what I’m good at and what brings me life.

Discover Durango focuses on the details. We fine tune experiences to people’s skill levels, group sizes, likes, dislikes, and areas they want to be challenged (or just relax). Durango offers an abundance of outdoor beauty, history, and amazing food and drink. The beautiful thing about Discover Durango is we get to put all that Durango has to offer into a beautiful array of experiences that captures the essence of our area.

We also want to serve our local community with event planning, bike clinics, romantic glamping or picnic experiences. We are working towards making Durango more enjoyable for locals as well as visitors.

We got to where we are today by recognizing a passion and appreciation for something we were already doing. We are still in startup mode for sure, and we are so excited to be building a business around responsibly sharing fun to be had in the place we get to live.

What I’ve learned along the way is that it’s always more work than you think it’s going to be. Sometimes you’ll put in so many hours and wonder what you’ve accomplished, but the behind the scenes work is just as valuable to your business as the work it self.

Discover Durango’s goal is to give exploration and adventure to people while bringing conscious tourism to Durango, through recreating responsibly and diversifying trail and recreational site use.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
There are so many places I want to take visitors when they come to town! The mountains are chalk full of lakes and stunning views, so we would definitely spend time hiking Crater lake and stopping at adrenaline falls. I love to go to Foxfires Farms on a Friday night for wine tasting and live music with a yummy picnic.
We’d make sure to also experience James Ranch’s fantastic burgers and views, along with coffee and baked goods from still life café (yummiest pastries and gluten free options).
We’d probably venture out of Durango and spend time hiking the Sharkstooth trail in Mancos and enjoy baked goods from Absolute bakery, topping the day off with some hard cider from Fenceline Cidery.
And of course Durango is not complete without a relaxing day on Lake Night Horse paddleboarding, sunbathing, and picnicking!
A Float down the Animas river and sneaking into Barber and the Bookcase are also in order.

You should come for longer than a week.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to give a shout out to two of my sisters; Jessica and Emily, and my good friend Elisha for being my biggest cheerleaders. Also, a huge thank you to my husband Travis who is my partner in all things. He fine tunes Discover Durango with his outdoor expertise and brilliant mind. All these amazing people have encouraged me, believed in me, and spurred me on in my entrepreneurial journey. Without them I never would have even started Discover Durango.

Website: discoverdurangoco@gmail.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/discoverdurangoco/