The tour is divided into three whimsically named segments: California Gulch, Fifth Street to Little Jonny Mine, and Seventh Street to Stumptown. Each segment highlights the mining district’s pivotal role in producing 3.3 million ounces of gold and 265 million ounces of silver from 1860 until the closure of the Black Cloud Mine in 1999.

Key stops include the Harrison Reduction Works, one of 17 smelters that operated between 1879 and 1960, and Oro City, where prospector Abe Lee discovered placer gold in 1860, sparking Leadville’s mining frenzy with the richest gold strike of the Pikes Peak rush.

Fryer Hill was a silver hotspot, home to the Robert E. Lee Mine, dubbed “The Silver Vault,” which yielded $3 million by 1882, and the Little Pittsburg, which earned Tabor a fortune from a $17 grubstake. Stumptown is a ghost town where Molly Brown lived briefly in the early 1880s, while the Ibex Mine Complex features the town of Ibex and five mine shafts. Here, J.J. Brown’s innovative solution to drainage issues earned him a share of the mine’s copper and gold riches, cementing the Browns’ wealth.

The route offers more than history; it’s a visual feast for photographers and nature lovers. The landscape, framed by Colorado’s tallest peaks, Mount Elbert and Mount Massive, includes sweeping views of Turquoise Lake and remnants of mining structures like headframes and ore bins.