Leadville

We spent four nights here in September 2025, on the trip in Episode 1, The Nest Is Empty. Our full field report is still being written, so here is what to know about the place itself.

The short version

Leadville is a historic silver mining city in Lake County, sitting above 10,000 feet near Mount Elbert, the highest peak in Colorado. The local tourism office describes it as the highest incorporated city in North America.

A little history

• Prospectors reached nearby California Gulch during the 1859 to 1860 gold rush, but early placer mining gave limited results.
• In the 1870s, assayers found that the area's lead carbonate ore carried silver. Leadville incorporated in 1878, and the silver boom took off.
• Horace and Augusta Tabor made a fortune here, and the Tabor Opera House went up in 1879. Margaret "Molly" Brown, later known as a Titanic survivor, lived here with her husband J.J. Brown.
• The repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act in 1893 set off a silver panic, and the population fell sharply.
• The Climax Mine on Fremont Pass later became the world's largest molybdenum producer, and during World War II the 10th Mountain Division trained at nearby Camp Hale.

What it is known for

• A downtown historic district that is a National Historic Landmark.
• The Mineral Belt Trail, an 11.6-mile paved loop around town. About six miles pass through the historic mining district, with interpretive signs and mining structures dating to the 1880s. In winter it serves Nordic skiers, snowshoers and fat bikes.
• The surrounding Leadville Ranger District of the San Isabel National Forest, home to Mount Elbert, seven other fourteeners and the Mount Massive Wilderness.

Good to know

• The Forest Service runs large developed campgrounds and picnic areas at Turquoise Lake and Twin Lakes nearby.
• The Leadville Lake County Visitor Center is on Harrison Avenue downtown.