2017-12-14 06:07:33
Leadville is the country’s highest incorporated city — one of the reasons it’s home to the ultra-extreme Leadville 100 foot and mountain-bike races. Well-preserved, Leadville has 70 square city blocks of Victorian buildings and shops, all part of a National Historic Landmark District, along with 20 square miles of preserved silver-mining district. More than 50 buildings date to the 1870s, including the Tabor Opera House (with an ambitious roster of acts each year), and walking tours include cemetery and stagecoach themes and picnics. Downtown is walkable and full of places to eat and hang, including the new speakeasy and absinthe bar, Wilde’s Green Hour, and its companion grab-and-go bakery and coffee shop, La Resistance. Treeline Kitchen is another new favorite — especially for its rooftop seating. Catch a ride on the Leadville, Colorado & Southern Railroad (3) and don’t miss the National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum, a fascinating look at the powerful industry and all the metals that helped build the state. For more mining history, take the Hope-more Underground Mine Tour led by a former miner. You’ll journey 600 feet from the surface into an authentic, hard-rock mine. Leadville sits along the Top of the Rockies Scenic and Historic Byway, and the town’s paved Mineral Belt Trail (1) offers year-round recreation for bikers, hikers, snowshoers and cross-country skiers. More than 100 miles of the Arkansas River, starting at the Lake Fork near Leadville, are designated Gold Medal fishing waters. Just 20 miles from town at the base of Independence Pass is historic Twin Lakes (2), where you’ll find world-class fishing and some of Colorado’s most spectacular lake and peak scenery. Twin Lakes is close to the trailhead of Mount Elbert (Colorado’s tallest peak). WINTER FUN Ski Cooper, former training site of the 10th Mountain Division, is now a family-friendly ski area with a warming hut at the top of the mountain that serves lunch and snacks to skiers. Cross-country skiing abounds throughout the area (and the Tennessee Pass Nordic Center’s Cookhouse is a most delicious destination), and visitors in March will be delighted by the town’s ski-joring festival, where horses tow skiers down Harrison Avenue. Leadville’s East Side Mining District is groomed all winter for Nordic skiing, snowshoeing, fat biking, and snowmobiling. Part of an extensive network of nearly 100 miles of groomed trails, the Mining District offers unparalleled views of the Sawatch and Mosquito ranges, the state’s highest fourteeners (Mt. Elbert and Mt. Massive), the chance to see mining structures up close and solitude on trails kept in excellent condition. STAY & PLAY OPTIONS Leadville (page 200), Twin Lakes (page 206) QUICK TIP Leadville is less than an hour from Breckenridge, Vail and Copper Mountain, and only 9 miles to Ski Cooper, offering a unique and low-cost option for a ski vacation.
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