The Iron Horse Bicycle Classic comes to Durango over Memorial Day weekend each year and brings with it a hefty economic boost for the city.
Hundreds of cyclists from far and wide gather to compete in the event in late May, which challenges participants to bike 48 miles from Durango to Silverton. The influx of visitors means a sizable boost for restaurants, hotels and local businesses during an otherwise quiet tourism month for the city.
Durango’s average hotel occupancy usually hovers around 60%, according to data from Visit Durango. Across the 2024 and 2025 Iron Horse races, hotel averages climbed to 85% occupancy across the three-day weekend with a peak of roughly 91% on Saturdays, said Destination Communications Strategist Rachel Welsh.
The increase puts hotels roughly 25 to 30 percentage points above typical annual occupancy levels, ranking the Iron Horse weekend alongside some of Durango’s busiest summer and holiday tourism periods.
During an average Iron Horse weekend, hotels generate roughly $1.1 million in revenue, according to combined 2024 and 2025 data, with average daily room rates nearing $185 and that number climbing to $195 on average for Friday and Saturday night rates.
Tori Ossola, General Manager at the Strater Hotel on Main Avenue, said the hotel usually reaches 90% occupancy during the weekend of the race.
“We do host many cyclists who book the Strater because of the convenient location downtown, our excellent and accommodating customer service and secure bicycle storage in our warehouse, where cyclists can access their bikes 24/7,” she said in an email to the Herald.
Other visitors coming to town for regular summer kick-off vacations also fill the Strater over Memorial Weekend, Ossola said, making those dates especially economically advantageous for the hotel.
“Of course we welcome the business, especially coming off of a slow winter due to lack of snow and concerns over the economy,” she said. “In addition to hotel room rental, we will definitely see a business increase in our three restaurants over Memorial Day weekend.”
Though data show hotels being some of the most prosperous entities during the Iron Horse weekend, they aren’t the only businesses that experience an economic bump because of the race.
In 2025, the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic generated an estimated $4.3 million in total business sales, including $2.62 million in direct spending, according to data shared by Welsh.
The race supported an estimated 1,464 jobs overall last year, including 1,220 directly tied to visitor spending and event activity, and local tax collections associated with the event totaled around $212,176, data shows.
Kris Oyler, owner of Peak Food and Beverage, which operates Steamworks Brewing Co., HomeSlice Pizza and El Moro Spirits & Tavern, said Peak restaurants see a large boost in customer numbers during the Iron Horse weekend across the board – but especially Steamworks.
“That’s our busiest weekend of the year at Steamworks,” he said. “Then you get the spillover effect, where obviously there’s a lot more people in town, so El Moro certainly has an uptick. It’s a busy weekend there. And then the three Homeslice Pizza restaurants, they get pretty busy as well. It’s just all around a busy weekend, which is great.”
Oyler said the expected business windfall over the Iron Horse weekend will be appreciated after a less-than ideal winter tourist season. The influx of visitors will also help give the restaurants an economic boost while waiting for summer tourists to arrive.
“It’s the best revenue we will see coming out of the winter, so it’s a nice shot in the arm,” he said. “And then usually it does quiet down for a couple weeks. What we see (as) primetime now is June 15 to Aug. 15, depending on how the weekends fall. So anytime we can get a bump up before or after that, it’s really helpful.”
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