Foothills
Gilpin County
Property taxes, marriage licenses, vehicle services, and many public records run through Gilpin County. Permits and local rules may sit with a town or city instead, so match the office to the exact address.
Official county shortcuts
Take the task to the office that handles it
These links go straight to the official county or regional office shown. Check that page for current documents, hours, appointments, fees, and address-specific instructions. A city may run its own permit office.
Property tax snapshot
Typical property tax in Gilpin County
The average total mill levy across Gilpin County was about 35.9 mills for tax year 2023 — below the statewide average of about 81 mills. On a $500,000 home, that comes to roughly $1,169 a year, using Colorado's 2026 residential rules: 7.05% on school mills, and 6.8% on the rest after the local actual-value adjustment.
This is the county average across all tax areas. Your parcel's actual mill levy depends on its exact tax area — a metro or special district can add many mills on top — so confirm the real number with the county assessor.
Sales tax: the state charges 2.9% and Gilpin County adds no county sales tax — cities and special districts still can. See Colorado sales tax rates ->
Source: Colorado Division of Property Taxation, 53rd Annual Report (2023) — Average Levies by County.
Incorporated places in this county
These cities and towns touch Gilpin County. Some cross a county line. Every name opens a direct place page, and selected places include a fuller local guide.
Get to know Gilpin County
The history, land, and character behind the place.
Water and land
In Gilpin County, your well permit tells you what your water can do
Many Gilpin County mountain properties have their own private well, and the well permit spells out exactly how that water may be used.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Golden Gate Canyon State Park is a Gilpin County doorstep, not just a destination
Golden Gate Canyon State Park straddles the Gilpin and Jefferson County line and is close to southern Gilpin County, with state-park access rules.
Read note ->History and culture
How limited-stakes gaming reshaped Central City and Black Hawk
Colorado voters approved limited-stakes gaming in Central City and Black Hawk in 1990, tying casino revenue to historic preservation in these old mining towns.
Read note ->History and culture
Central City and Black Hawk grew out of an 1859 gold strike
Gilpin County's main towns trace back to an 1859 gold discovery in Gregory Gulch, one of the events that pulled prospectors into the Colorado mountains.
Read note ->Money and taxes (3)
Money and taxes
Missing a Gilpin tax notice does not erase the tax
In Gilpin County the property tax is owed every year even if the notice never reaches you, so keep your address current.
Read note ->Money and taxes
Why two Gilpin County cabins can have very different tax bills
A Colorado property tax bill has three moving parts, and overlapping local districts are why two similar Gilpin County properties can be taxed differently.
Read note ->Home and property (13)
Home and property
Gilpin County living: defensible space is part of mountain homeownership
Gilpin County sits in forested, fire-prone terrain, and creating defensible space around a home is work that happens long before there is any smoke.
Read note ->Home and property
A Gilpin new home needs a real OWTS path
A new Gilpin County home needs a real onsite wastewater system; a composting or incinerating toilet will not stand in for it.
Read note ->Water and land (3)
Water and land
Selling a Gilpin County home? The septic system has its own step
In unincorporated Gilpin County, the septic system on a property is inspected and permitted on its own track, separate from the house sale.
Read note ->Water and land
Fishing the high lakes and creeks above Gilpin County's East Portal
The lakes and streams in the James Peak Wilderness above Gilpin County's East Portal draw hike-in anglers, but fishing them means a license and rules that change by water.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire (6)
Outdoors and wildfire
Much of Gilpin County is national forest — and that comes with rules
A large share of Gilpin County is public land, much of it Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forest, where dispersed camping and motor use follow ranger-district rules, not a free-for-all.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
James Peak Wilderness: a wild corner of Gilpin County with strict rules
The James Peak Wilderness reaches into western Gilpin County, and as designated wilderness it bans campfires, bikes, and motors, with leashed pets and small group sizes.
Read note ->Cars and driving (3)
Cars and driving
The Peak to Peak Byway is scenic — and a real mountain drive
The Peak to Peak Scenic and Historic Byway runs to Black Hawk through Gilpin County, and a designated byway is still a high mountain road in winter.
Read note ->Cars and driving
The "Oh My God" Road is the back way to Idaho Springs - and a drive in itself
Virginia Canyon Road is an unpaved shelf route between Central City and Idaho Springs, full of old mine country and hairpin turns, that rewards a dry-day, daylight plan.
Read note ->Local rules (3)
Local rules
In Gilpin County, your address decides who makes the rules
Gilpin County has both incorporated municipalities and large unincorporated areas, so the rules for a property depend on whether it sits inside a city or in the county.
Read note ->Local rules
Gilpin County treats shipping containers as structures
Gilpin County treats a shipping container as an accessory structure, bars it from vacant land, and limits temporary use to 30 straight days.
Read note ->History and culture (5)
History and culture
Why Central City and Black Hawk are a National Historic Landmark district
Central City, Black Hawk, and Nevadaville form a National Historic Landmark district, a high federal recognition that helps explain the area's strict building rules.
Read note ->History and culture
Nevadaville: the quiet ghost town just above Central City
A couple of miles above Central City sits Nevadaville, an early gold camp that emptied out and now makes a free, easy, photogenic side trip.
Read note ->Nearby counties
Other Foothills counties — rules, rates, and districts shift across county lines.