Redstone | Redstone, CO 970-963-2526 | visit our website Redstone is a 19th-century historic gem, hidden in the dense aspen and blue spruce of the White River National Forest.  The town of 92 people is located on the West Elk Loop Scenic and Historic Byway (Colorado Highway 133), the doorstep of the Snowmass/Maroon Bells Wilderness Area.  In 2008 it was designated as a Preserve America Community.  The Crystal River flows through the village founded in 1901 by coal and steel baron John Cleveland Osgood to house the men (and their families) who worked the Redstone coke ovens.  These "cokers" turned Coal Basin's high-grade metallurgical coal into the coke which fired the blast furnaces that helped build America.

Oak Creek Tracks and Trails Museum| Oak Creek, CO 970-736-8245 | visit our website One hundred years ago, tiny Oak Creek, Colorado was attracting new residents from around the globe.  Immigrants from Poland, Turkey, Yugoslavia and Japan arrived in Oak Creek seeking work in the nearby coal mines.  Others founded new businesses in the quickly growing downtown commercial district.  In 1908, the Denver, Northwestern & Pacific Railroad reached Oak Creek and the town became a refueling stop for coal-hungry locomotives.   By 1915, some 2,000 people lived in Oak Creek, and more than 30 businesses operated in a collection of one and two-story masonry and wood-frame buildings.  Six of these businesses were saloons.

Independence Ghost Town | Pitkin County, CO 970-925-3721 | visit our website The town of Independence lies in a picturesque meadow on the west side of Independence Pass alongside State Highway 82 at an altitude of 10,880 feet.  According to legend, Billy Belden, one of the original prospectors in the Roaring Fork Valley, hit a rich vein of gold on July 4, 1879 and named the claim, and the tent city around it, Independence.

Steelworks Museum of Industry and Culture | Pueblo, CO 719-564-9086 | visit our website Colorado Fuel and Iron (CF&I) played a major part in the industrialization of the West. It was the first integrated steel mill west of the Mississippi, controlling all of the natural resources necessary to produce steel: coal, iron ore, limestone and water.  Begun in 1872 by General William Palmer to provide steel rails for the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, CF&I was later controlled by John Osgood of Redstone, Colorado and John D. Rockefeller.   The company produced necessities for the West, including iron rails, fencing, nails, and steel pipes.  The reach of CF&I was broad; the company owned and operated 62 mines and quarries and numerous sales offices and subsidiaries across the country.

The Mineral Belt Trail | Leadville, CO 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.

Town of Creede | Creede, CO 800-327-2102 | visit our website Welcome to the historic Town of Creede, Colorado! Creede.com is the official site of the Creede/Mineral County Chamber of Commerce, your connection to vacations, recreation, attractions, and the Arts in southern Colorado.

Mayflower Gold Mill Tour | Silverton, CO 970-387-5488 | visit our website The Mayflower Mill is one of the last and best preserved mills in the United States that documents the process for turning ore into gold. Gold, silver, lead, zinc, copper and tungsten were all mined in the San Juan Mountains. Coupled with the Old 100 Mine Tour, the Mayflower mill shows the complete story of the mining process.

This project is paid for in part by a State Historical Fund grant
from the Colorado Historical Society.