1 giorno / 92 miglia / 2 ore e 13 minuti
With altitudes seldom dipping below 9,000 feet, this byway earns its name. Visit historic mining railroad towns en route to historic Leadville, the highest incorporated community in the U.S. Old mining camps attest to the state's rich mining heritage. The route crosses the Continental Divide twice and traces the Arkansas River.
Giorno 1
9:00 - 0.3 miglia / 1 minuto - 9:00
9:05 - 0.8 miglia / 2 minuti - 9:07
9:12 - 19.8 miglia / 43 minuti - 9:56
10:01 - 17.1 miglia / 26 minuti - 10:27
Found at the base of Mt. Elbert, the highest mountain in Colorado, lies Twin Lakes. True to its name, it is adjacent to two natural lakes.
10:32 - 6.4 miglia / 7 minuti - 10:40
Balltown is a small community in Colorado, south of Leadville.
10:45 - 14.9 miglia / 16 minuti - 11:01
The Tabor Opera House, known as the finest theater between St. Louis and San Francisco, was built in 1879 by Horace Austin Warner Tabor, one of Leadville's wealthy silver miners. The opera house was built in 100 days, stood three stories high, was constructed of stone, brick and iron, trimmed with Portland cement, and cost $40,000 to build. Tabor left his first wife, Augusta, to marry the beautiful Elizabeth Bonduel McCourt Doe, better known as "Baby Doe." During 1893 Tabor lost the opera house and much of his wealth as silver prices plummeted as a result of the Sherman Silver Act, which removed silver as the mineral backing currency in the US. Tabor died in 1899, a poor man. The opera house changed hands several times until 1955, when it became the Tabor Opera House again. Many well known personalities have performed at the opera house, including: Houdini, John Philip Sousa, Oscar Wilde, and Anna Held. Today, the building is preserved as an opera house so visitors may enjoy it. Photographs, wooden floors, the stage, threadbare carpet, and empty seats are part of the experience visitors will have when visiting the Tabor Opera House.
11:06 - 0.1 miglia / 1 minuto - 11:07
11:12 - 0.2 miglia / 1 minuto - 11:12
11:17 - 9.8 miglia / 11 minuti - 11:29
11:34 - 5.8 miglia / 6 minuti - 11:40
Camp Hale National Historic Site
Camp Hale was the training site for the 10th Mountain Division during WWII. This division trained at the Camp Hale site, taking advantage of the ski slopes and high elevation. This training prepared the troops for action in the Apennine Mountains of Italy. Construction of Camp Hale was finished in 1942, and by 1944 the troops were sent to Europe. By mid 1943, Camp Hale was home to 14,000 troops. The valley was laid out in grid system, and there were many barracks, as well as stables, a vet clinic, hospital, and field house. The troops trained on the slopes and rocky ridges of the area, often under harsh winter conditions. After the war, many of the men of the 10th Mountain Division established ski resorts and helped develop the recreational ski industry that many people enjoy today. A memorial to those who lost their lives during combat is at the entrance of Ski Copper, just a few miles south of this site.
11:45 - 6.6 miglia / 7 minuti - 11:53
11:58 - 8.1 miglia / 8 minuti - 12:06
Minturn flourished when the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad arrived in the late 1880s. The town swiftly developed a booming transportation industry.
12:11 - 1.9 miglia / 2 minuti - 12:13
Dowd Junction is in southern Colorado, at I-70.