719-486-8409 | visit our website
The Mineral Belt Trail is one of Colorado's highest and most spectacular paved pathways. Dedicated on July 29, 2000, the trail loops the city of Leadville, one of the greatest mining districts in the world and one of Colorado's 21 National Historic Landmarks. The Mineral Belt Trail was designated a National Recreation Trail in June, 2002.
The Mineral Belt Trail is 11.6 miles long and six miles of it meanders through the historic Leadville Mining District, offering views of 19th century mine frames, cribbing and historic houses. Just off East Fifth Street the trail skirts within 50 yards of the still-standing last home (a shack actually!) of the legendary Baby Doe Tabor, mistress and then-wife of silver baron H.A.W. Tabor. The trail offers unsurpassed views of the Sawatch and Mosquito ranges, traveling through aspen groves, conifer forests, wildflower meadows, and open vista sage parks.
The trail integrates portions of the grades of the three major rail lines that served the Leadville Mining District around the turn of the century. Its alignment parallels California Gulch, site of Leadville's first gold strike and earliest settlement, and cuts through the heart of the mineral belt that earned Leadville the moniker of "Colorado's Silver City". As it traverses the hills east of town, the trail instills in the traveler a sense of the pioneering spirit of the rugged men and women who endured unbelievable hardships of the harsh alpine environment to scrape and gouge a living from the unforgiving mountain-sides and carved the City of Leadville from the inhospitable landscape above 10,000 feet.
Along the way interpretative signs chronicle the rags to riches stories of notable figures from Colorado's history such as Horace and Baby Doe Tabor, Meyer Guggenheim, Charles Boettcher, David May, Father John Dyer, (Colorado's "Snowshoe Itinerant Preacher",) and the "Unsinkable Molly Brown". They also tell the story of the building of the "Cloud City", whose ornate Victorian architecture once housed the entrepreneurs, gamblers, miners, outlaws, and "ladies of the evening" of Colorado lore.
Interpretive areas along the trail include old mine dumps, mine shafts, towering head frames, and the remains of 19th century cabins and other mine-related structures. West of Colorado Mountain College there are several fixed, mounted viewing scopes, each labeled with the name of the peak visible through its sights. Lake County is home to Colorado's two highest peaks, Mt. Elbert and Mt. Massive, both visible from the trail.
FUN FACTS TO KNOW AND TELL
1) Trail is 11.6 miles, all season, non-motorized.
2) At 10,200 feet Leadville is the highest incorporated city in North America.
EVENTS
|
All six of Leadville's museums are open for the summer season: the National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum (open year-round), Heritage Museum, Healy House and Dexter Cabin, Tabor Home, and the Matchless Mine. |
Memorial Day |
|
Leadville celebrates the 150th anniversary of the Gold Rush and is part of the Colorado Gold Trail. |
All Summer |
OTHER PLACES TO VISIT
1) National Mining Hall of Fame & Museum
2) Tabor Opera House
3) Heritage Museum
4) Healy House & Dexter Cabin
5) The Augusta Tabor Home
6) Matchless Mine
7) Leadville CO & Southern Railroad Company
BYWAY
Top of the Rockies Scenic and Historic Byway
Toolbox: 
