Entry No. 15 — the Durango file — filed under: offbeat-museum
Notah-Dineh Trading Company & Museum
Since 1961 the Leighton family — traders in the Four Corners for four generations — have run this Cortez post, and downstairs they keep a free museum most rug shoppers never find. The centerpiece is Rachel Curley’s 12-by-18-foot Two Grey Hills rug, three years on the loom from 1957 to 1960 and the largest known in that style; the family sold it once and got it back. Around it: old pawn, 1920s kachinas, cradleboards, beaded gauntlets, tomahawks, trading-post relics.
The move: Stand together at the foot of Rachel Curley’s room-sized rug downstairs and count the three years of work in it, then pick out a piece of old pawn from the cases upstairs.
📍 Before you go The museum is downstairs inside the working trading post at 345 West Main in downtown Cortez — walk in through the showroom and ask staff to point you to the stairs. Street parking along Main is easy, and the place keeps shop hours rather than museum hours, so make it a daytime stop. From Durango it is about 45 minutes west on US 160, and the Mesa Verde National Park entrance sits roughly fifteen minutes east of town, which makes the pairing obvious.
- 📍 Cortez
- 💸 $
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 345 W Main St, Cortez, CO 81321
Hours: Added 2026-06-11 — confirm current hours before you go.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Proof: source 1 · source 2 · source 3
last checked: 2026-06-11