Colorado’s 1870s silver towns are still standing, and a corkscrew train connects them both

They’re connected by a corkscrew train

Georgetown and Silver Plume sit about two miles apart in a steep canyon along Clear Creek, west of Denver. The buildings are original.

The streets follow the same grid miners walked in the 1870s.

A narrow-gauge railroad still connects the two towns by climbing a loop so steep the track crosses over itself. Forested slopes and snow-capped peaks close in on every side.

What you find here is a full mining-era landscape, and most of it looks the way it did 150 years ago.

Silver built one fancy town and one plain one

Gold turned up first. Brothers George and David Griffith found it here in 1859, and rich silver veins followed.

By the 1870s, this stretch of canyon ranked among Colorado’s leading silver camps. Georgetown filled with grand Victorian homes.

Silver Plume, just up the road, stayed a plainer town where the miners who worked the tunnels actually lived. The boom ended in 1893 when silver prices crashed after Congress repealed a federal silver law.

Both towns were named a National Historic Landmark District in 1966.

The train loops over itself to climb the canyon

Narrow-gauge steam and diesel engines run a corkscrew route between Georgetown and Silver Plume. The line dates to 1884, and people called it an engineering marvel even then.

The track gains more than 600 feet by looping over itself to handle the steep grade.

The whole ride takes about an hour and 15 minutes, and you pass through canyons, along creeks, and past old mine ruins the entire way. Open and enclosed cars both give you the mountain views.

Devil’s Gate Bridge hangs 90 feet over the creek

The ride’s high point is the Devil’s Gate High Bridge, where the track rises about 90 feet above Clear Creek. The rail curves in a full circle here and passes over itself to gain elevation.

You can look straight down at the creek and the canyon floor below.

The current bridge is a replica finished in 1984, built to mark 100 years since the original went up. It still hits you the same way.

Walk 500 feet into a real silver mine

The Lebanon Silver Mine first opened in the 1870s, and you can tour it as an add-on to your train ticket. Guides take you on foot about 500 feet into the mountain.

Hard hats go on before you enter. The tunnel stays cool and dim year-round, so bring a layer even in July.

Inside, you see the old tools, learn how miners worked by candlelight, and spot veins of silver still locked in the rock walls around you.

Pan for gold and keep what you find

At the mining park, you can try gold panning by hand. Staff show you the technique, and whatever gold flakes you pull from the pan are yours to keep.

It sounds simple, and it is. You swirl water and sediment in a shallow dish and watch for the glint at the bottom.

Kids love it. Adults get into it just as fast.

The souvenir you walk away with came straight out of a Colorado creek bed.

A French immigrant built the Rockies’ finest hotel

Louis Dupuy, a French immigrant, opened the Hotel de Paris in Georgetown in 1875. It became known as one of the most refined places to stay anywhere in the Rockies.

The building is a museum now, filled with thousands of original items from Dupuy’s era. It is Colorado’s only site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Guided tours walk you through the kitchen, the guest rooms, and the furnishings, all arranged the way they looked when travelers checked in over a century ago.

The Hamill House has a six-seat outhouse

This home started in 1867 as a modest place, but mining figure William A. Hamill bought it in 1874 and expanded it starting in 1879. He added a glass conservatory, gas lighting, bay windows, and central heating.

The grounds still hold his stone office, a carriage house, and a six-seat outhouse that tells you something about how many people came and went.

Today it runs as a museum showing how a wealthy Victorian family lived in Georgetown’s silver heyday.

Georgetown survived the fires that leveled other mining towns

Most Colorado mining towns lost their original buildings to fire. Georgetown kept its 1800s downtown intact.

Blocks of colorful Victorian storefronts and homes line a walkable grid you can cover in an afternoon. The Gateway Visitor Center makes a solid first stop for maps and local history.

Small museums nearby cover firefighting and early mountain electricity, including a hydroelectric plant from 1900 that still runs. The whole center is compact enough to explore on foot without a plan.

Silver Plume keeps it plain and proud

Silver Plume got its start in 1870 as the home of everyday mine workers.

Simple wood-frame houses line the streets here, a clear contrast to Georgetown’s fancier homes down the canyon. The George Rowe Museum sits inside the town’s 1894 brick schoolhouse.

Inside, you find old classroom items, firefighting gear, photographs, and clothing from the mining days. In summer, a long-running melodrama show draws crowds to town.

The whole place feels like it never tried to be anything it wasn’t.

Bighorn sheep graze the slopes above town

Hundreds of bighorn sheep live on the mountainsides around Georgetown.

They are Colorado’s state animal, and you can watch them from free viewing stations near Georgetown Lake and the visitor center. Spotting scopes are set up so you can see the herds up close without hiking.

Volunteers sometimes stand by to help you find them on the slopes.

Every November, the town holds a free Bighorn Sheep Festival with guided viewing and family activities.

Guanella Pass climbs above 11,000 feet from town

The Guanella Pass byway starts right in Georgetown and climbs to over 11,000 feet. Views open up to Mount Bierstadt and wide stretches of alpine tundra near the top.

Waterfalls and aspen groves line the road on the way up, and in fall the whole corridor turns gold. Bighorn sheep, mountain goats, and eagles are common sights along the drive.

Trailheads branch off the road and lead to hikes and high peaks if you want to stretch your legs.

Explore Georgetown-Silver Plume in Colorado

You can reach both towns in about 45 minutes from Denver. Take Interstate 70 west to Clear Creek County, and the exits drop you right in.

The district covers Georgetown, Silver Plume, and the loop valley between them. Both towns are open year-round.

The Georgetown Loop Railroad runs seasonally from spring into the winter holiday period. Daytime mine tours run from April through mid-September.

Start at the Gateway Visitor Center in Georgetown for maps, schedules, and local tips.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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