Leadville

Leadville exploded into life in the late 1870s when enormous deposits of silver were discovered in the surrounding hills, drawing tens of thousands of people into the high valley almost overnight. For a brief, dazzling period it was one of the largest and wealthiest cities in Colorado, its mines pouring out fortunes in silver, lead, and later gold, and its streets crowded with miners, gamblers, merchants, and dreamers.

The town produced some of the most famous rags-to-riches and riches-to-rags stories of the West. Horace Tabor struck it rich here and became a silver king, only to lose everything when the price of silver collapsed in the 1890s, a crash that hit Leadville hard. His wife, known as Baby Doe, is said to have died decades later in poverty at one of his old mines. The Tabor Opera House and the grand buildings downtown are monuments to those boom years.

At an elevation of more than 10,000 feet, Leadville holds the title of the highest incorporated city in the United States, and the altitude shapes everything about it. The air is thin, so visitors coming from lower ground often feel the effects and are wise to take things slowly at first. The climate is cool even in summer and downright harsh in winter, with deep snow and long, cold nights.

That elevation also gives Leadville its extraordinary setting. The town looks straight out at Mount Elbert and Mount Massive, the two highest summits in Colorado, both rising above 14,000 feet, and the surrounding high country is a wonderland of peaks, alpine lakes, and trails. Living and working at this height was a hardship for the miners and remains a defining fact of life for the town today.

Leadville's mining past is not hidden away. The hills east of town are dotted with the wooden headframes, tailings, and ruins of the historic mines, and the National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum in town tells the story of the industry that built the place and much of the American West. The whole downtown is a National Historic Landmark District, remarkably intact from its boom-era heyday.

You can experience that history in motion, too. A scenic railroad runs excursions out of Leadville along an old mining line, climbing through the high country with views of the peaks and the valley, and giving a sense of how the ore and the people once moved through this rugged country. Between the museum, the historic streets, and the railroad, the town keeps its past close at hand.

Leadville makes an excellent base for exploring the highest part of the Colorado Rockies. Mount Elbert, the state's tallest peak, and Mount Massive both have trailheads nearby, drawing hikers who come to stand on the roof of Colorado. Twin Lakes, a pair of scenic reservoirs beneath the peaks, lies just to the south, and Independence Pass climbs west toward Aspen in the warmer months.

The town is also famous in the endurance world, hosting grueling high-altitude running and mountain-bike races that draw athletes from around the world to test themselves in the thin air. Whether for its history, its mountains, or its sheer altitude, Leadville offers an authentic slice of the mining-era West in one of the most dramatic settings in the state.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.