Mountains
Lake County
25 Porch Notes tied to Lake County — the local details that change from one part of Colorado to the next.
Home and property (2)
Home and property
Leadville's mining past includes a Superfund cleanup site
The California Gulch Superfund site covers part of central Lake County, and the EPA is the official source for its boundaries and cleanup status.
Read note ->Home and property
Radon is a normal home question in high-country Lake County
Radon is a common indoor-air concern in Colorado homes, and testing is the only way to know a specific Lake County house, regardless of how new or how high it is.
Read note ->Water and land (3)
Water and land
The reservoirs around Leadville are part of a big water project
Twin Lakes and Turquoise Lake are tied into the federal Fryingpan-Arkansas Project, which moves and stores water for use downstream.
Read note ->Water and land
Turquoise Lake has boat ramps, campgrounds, and required boat inspections
Turquoise Lake near Leadville is a developed Forest Service recreation area with boat ramps and campgrounds, and trailered or motorized boats need a Colorado aquatic nuisance species inspection.
Read note ->Water and land
Twin Lakes has a boat ramp and a separate paddling launch
At Twin Lakes near the foot of Independence Pass, the Dexter Point ramp serves trailered boats while the Red Rooster site on the northwest shore is set up for kayaks, paddleboards, and the Interlaken boat tour.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire (7)
Outdoors and wildfire
Lake County's fourteeners sit on national forest land with its own rules
Mount Elbert, Mount Massive, and the high country around Leadville are managed by the Forest Service through the Leadville Ranger District.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Mount Massive sits in a designated wilderness with stricter rules
Mount Massive and the country around it are inside the Mount Massive Wilderness, where wilderness rules limit what you can do beyond ordinary national forest.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Ski Cooper keeps it small, natural, and easy on the wallet
Atop Tennessee Pass north of Leadville, Ski Cooper runs on natural snowfall with short lift lines and ticket prices well below Colorado's big resorts.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
The Arkansas River starts in Lake County and is Gold Medal water
The Arkansas River begins near Leadville and flows into the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area, a long stretch of Colorado Gold Medal trout water co-managed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
The Leadville fish hatchery is a trailhead for hikes and wildlife watching
The grounds of the Leadville National Fish Hatchery double as a trailhead, with named trails climbing toward the Mount Massive Wilderness and good odds of seeing elk, deer, and birds.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
The Leadville National Fish Hatchery is a working piece of 1800s history
The Leadville National Fish Hatchery, established in 1889, is one of the country's oldest federal fish hatcheries and is open to visitors near Leadville.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Two main trailheads reach Mount Elbert, and they start in different places
Mount Elbert has a North and a South trailhead off different roads south of Leadville, and knowing which one you want saves a long, confusing drive.
Read note ->Cars and driving (2)
Cars and driving
Independence Pass closes for the winter, so plan around it
State Highway 82 over Independence Pass, the high route between Twin Lakes and Aspen, closes seasonally for winter, so the drive that works in summer may not work in the snow.
Read note ->Cars and driving
Mosquito Pass is a rough, high four-wheel-drive road open only briefly each year
The Mosquito Pass road east of Leadville is a steep, rocky high-clearance four-wheel-drive route that is usually open for about six to eight weeks after the summer snowmelt.
Read note ->Local rules (1)
History and culture (10)
History and culture
Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument lies just north over Tennessee Pass
North of Leadville over Tennessee Pass, Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument protects a World War II mountain-training site and lands that remain culturally important to the Ute people.
Read note ->History and culture
Healy House and Dexter Cabin show Leadville's Victorian boom up close
The Healy House Museum and Dexter Cabin in Leadville are History Colorado heritage sites that preserve the Victorian-era homes of the silver boom.
Read note ->History and culture
Leadville is home to the National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum
The National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum in Leadville tells the story of American mining from a former school building in town.
Read note ->History and culture
Riding the High Line Out of Leadville
A seasonal scenic train climbs an old mining grade out of Leadville for big views of Colorado's two tallest peaks.
Read note ->History and culture
Tennessee Pass and Ski Cooper carry the 10th Mountain Division story
Tennessee Pass north of Leadville and the Ski Cooper area trace back to World War II, when the Army trained the 10th Mountain Division ski troops in this high country.
Read note ->History and culture
The Climax mine on Fremont Pass is a different mining story than silver
High on Fremont Pass at the edge of Lake County, the Climax mine has produced molybdenum for more than a century, a separate chapter from Leadville's silver boom.
Read note ->History and culture
The Matchless Mine and the cabin where Baby Doe Tabor held on
A short drive up from downtown Leadville, a guided surface tour of Horace Tabor's silver mine ends at the spare cabin where his widow lived out her last decades.
Read note ->History and culture
The Tabor Opera House tells Leadville's silver-boom story in one building
The 1879 Tabor Opera House in Leadville was built by silver magnate Horace Tabor and is a contributing landmark within the Leadville National Historic Landmark District.
Read note ->History and culture
Twin Lakes village is a preserved 1800s mountain town
The Twin Lakes Historic District and the nearby Interlaken resort preserve a late-1800s mountain village and lake-side hotel that grew up on the road between Leadville and Aspen.
Read note ->History and culture
Why Leadville sits where it does: silver, then much more
Leadville grew up around mining in California Gulch, and much of its historic core is recognized as a National Historic Landmark District.
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