Idaho Springs is an historical gold/silver mining town in the mountains west of Denver. The city has tried hard to keep the old victorian houses and to preserve the mines that used to make a lot of money for this area. Most of the mines are closed now and only a few are open for tours. They are the big Argo Mine and the Phoenix Mine. The Argo is right in the town and the Phoenix can be accessed from the Old Stanley Road. You can see some of my pictures on my TRAVELOGUE. If you drive along the dirt roads around Idaho Springs and Georgetown, you can see the remnants of hundreds of gold and silver mines. They can easily be spotted by finding the large mounds of golden colored tailings left behind.
Since there wasn't a page for Georgetown, I'm putting it up here (close by). This small town is west of Idaho Springs on Highway I-70. There are two parts to Georgetown. The newer section with all the bland chain restaurants and gas stations and the older part which was mainly built in the 1800's. This side has lots of charm and character. You can ride a narrow gauge train that makes a long loop around the mountains. In the winter, you can ice fish on the lake, watch the ice jeep races on the frozen lake, or view the herd of big horn sheep in the wild.
Georgetown's claim to fame is that Rosanne Barr (Arnold) used to live here with her first husband and her kids. They lived in a trailer park here before she became famous.
*** For more pictures of Georgetown, click on my TRAVELOGUE*****
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