Colorado’s wildest old mining town sits at 9,318 feet with no plans to come down

It’s Colorado’s last real boomtown

Silverton, Colorado, sits at 9,318 feet with peaks boxing it in on every side. About 700 people live here year-round, making it the only town in all of San Juan County.

The federal government made the entire downtown a National Historic Landmark District back in 1961, so what you see today looks a lot like what miners saw over a century ago.

Victorian buildings line the streets in bright paint, and dirt side roads end with mountain views that stop you mid-step.

The best stuff, though, is what waits beyond the town limits.

Silver, gold, and a railroad that saved it all

Prospectors pushed into the San Juan Mountains after a treaty opened the land in 1874, and Silverton grew fast once they found what they came for.

The railroad rolled in by 1882. It gave miners a way to ship and pull more than 2 million ounces of gold and 51 million ounces of silver from the ground.

Then the last big mine shut down in the early 1990s. Tourism picked up the slack, and now people come from around the world to walk the same streets miners once worked.

Ride a coal-fired steam train from 1882

The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad still runs on coal and steam, just like it did when it first connected these two towns in 1882.

The 45-mile route follows the Animas River through wilderness you can’t reach by road, with the train hugging narrow ledges cut into canyon walls.

About 150,000 passengers climb aboard each year, and the ride takes roughly three and a half hours each way. The train runs to Silverton from early May through October.

In winter, shorter trips head partway to Cascade Canyon.

Drive the “Million Dollar Highway” with no guardrails

U.S. Highway 550 runs 25 miles between Silverton and Ouray, and people call it one of the most scenic drives in the country.

The road crosses three mountain passes, with Red Mountain Pass topping out at 11,018 feet. Sharp curves hug steep drop-offs, and long stretches have no guardrails at all.

Originally built as a toll road in the 1880s and rebuilt in the 1920s, this stretch is part of the 233-mile San Juan Skyway loop through southwest Colorado.

You grip the wheel a little tighter up here.

A ghost town buried under 25 feet of snow

Twelve miles northeast of Silverton, up the Alpine Loop, Animas Forks sits at 11,200 feet. Prospectors built the first cabins here in 1873, and by 1883, about 450 people called it home.

Then a blizzard hit in 1884 and did not stop for 23 days. Snow buried the town 25 feet deep, and residents dug tunnels between buildings just to survive.

Mining faded by the early 1900s, and everyone left by the 1920s. Nine original buildings still stand, restored and maintained by the Bureau of Land Management.

Take a jeep across 65 miles of mountain passes

The Alpine Loop covers 65 miles of unpaved road connecting Silverton, Ouray, and Lake City through high-altitude passes.

More than 100,000 people drive it each year by Jeep, ATV, or other high-clearance vehicles. You pass old mining camps, ghost towns, and scattered ruins the whole way.

Engineer Pass and Cinnamon Pass are the two big routes, and both require four-wheel vehicles. Don’t have your own rig? Jeep and ATV rentals are available at Silverton.

Go 1,500 feet inside a real gold mine

At the Old Hundred Gold Mine, you ride a vintage electric mine train 1,500 feet straight into Galena Mountain.

Guides who used to work as miners show you how air-powered drills and other equipment pulled ore from the rock. The one-hour tour gives you a feel for what life was like deep underground more than a century ago.

When you come back out, you can pan for real gold, silver, and copper at no extra cost. No reservations needed, and it is a short drive from downtown.

Hike to a blue-green lake at 12,000 feet

The Ice Lakes Trail is one of the most talked-about hikes in Colorado, and the color of the water is the reason.

The trail runs about seven miles round trip and climbs roughly 2,430 feet through aspen groves, conifer forest, wildflower meadows, and past waterfalls.

At the top, the upper lake sits in a basin ringed by tall peaks, and the water is so clear it looks almost unreal. This is a hard climb at high altitude, so give yourself time and bring plenty of water.

Step into Colorado’s largest wilderness area

The Weminuche Wilderness covers close to 500,000 acres, making it the biggest wilderness area in the state. Three of Colorado’s fourteeners, peaks above 14,000 feet, rise inside it.

You get about 500 miles of maintained trails, including sections of the Continental Divide Trail and the Colorado Trail. Elk, mule deer, black bears, mountain goats, and bighorn sheep share the terrain.

Silverton is one of the main ways in, and here is the trick: the narrow gauge railroad drops hikers at remote trailheads deep in the backcountry.

A 12-ton marble Jesus watches over town

High on Anvil Mountain, a 16-foot statue of Jesus carved from 12 tons of Italian Carrara marble looks out over Silverton.

Townspeople built it in 1959 during a deep slump in the mining industry, hoping to lift the community’s spirits. The marble came from the same quarry in Italy that supplied stone for Michelangelo’s sculpture of David.

Shortly after the dedication, a nearby mine reopened and brought jobs back. You can drive up and take a short hike to the shrine.

North America’s steepest lift-served mountain

Silverton Mountain holds the title for the highest and steepest lift-served ski area in North America, with a summit at 13,487 feet.

One chairlift. No groomed runs. Expert terrain only. The mountain averages more than 400 inches of snow a year and runs both guided and unguided sessions.

Helicopter skiing covers over 22,000 acres of backcountry. For beginners, Kendall Mountain Recreation Area in town has gentle slopes, sledding, and ice skating.

Horses pull skiers down Main Street in winter

Silverton’s winters go well beyond the ski slopes. Frozen waterfalls in the surrounding canyons draw ice climbers looking for a challenge.

Miles of groomed trails open up for snowmobiling through the high mountains, and fat biking and Nordic skiing keep the trail network busy.

The town even hosts Skijoring events, where skiers race down Blair Street while horses pull them at full speed. And the Million Dollar Highway stays open all winter.

Explore Silverton, Colorado

Silverton sits about 48 miles north of Durango along the Million Dollar Highway in southwest Colorado. You can also arrive by the narrow-gauge railroad. At 9,318 feet, the altitude hits you if you are coming from lower ground.

Most of the surrounding San Juan Mountains are public land, open to hiking, camping, fishing, and exploring year-round. The walkable downtown has shops, galleries, and places to eat, though some close during winter’s quieter months.

Stop by the Silverton Visitor’s Center at 414 Greene St. for maps and local tips. It is open daily from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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