As I continue sharing great Colorado fall getaways in this series, I’d be remiss not to include Leadville. After all, I’ve been to this quintessential Colorado mountain town several times in autumn. In fact, last year, I was there to catch a ride on the Leadville, Colorado & Southern Railroad Fall Photo train ride.
I highly recommend this affordable excursion. Pack a lunch and a camera and hop aboard one of the most memorable train rides of your life. If you catch it on the right weekend, the fall colors are breathtaking. Blazes of orange and yellow cut through the green mountainsides like splashes of paint on a canvas.
Make your trip even more exciting by doing a combo train ride/zip line package with Top of the Rockies Zip Lines. You will board the train and ride it until it reaches the top of Top of the Rockies, where you will disembark, meet your hosts from the zip line company and zip down to the bottom. If you are lucky, you may even zip over the train that you just got off. Once you reach the bottom of Top of the Rockies, they will provide you transportation back to Leadville – just a quick 10 minute trip.
Read about my fun winter experience at Top of the Rockies here.
Fall in Leadville is the perfect time to take a tour of the Evergreen Cemetery. I wrote about our tour here. You can either take a history tour or ghost tour, it’s your choice. Sign up for tours at the Delaware Hotel.
While in town, I’d highly recommend a hike or bike ride along the Mineral Belt Loop Trail. This is another way to take in the changing colors of the season. This large, flat, paved trail is one of Leadville’s gems. In the winter it is groomed for cross country skiing and snowshoeing. You can get on at various points, hike a bit, and get off again if you’d rather not do the entire 11.6 mile loop.
Ask your hotel or the visitors’ center for a map and directions. Last fall we walked to the trail from the Delaware Hotel and circled our way back around into town. I love that Leadville is a very walkable community.
If the days are starting to get cool, pop into City on the Hill Coffee for a hot chocolate. We discovered this great little coffee shop quite randomly when I needed to get some writing done during a HeidiTown trip. We also like Tennessee Pass Café for fresh, delicious food and cheerful service.
For more tips on Leadville, go here.
Read the first article in this three-part series: Fall travel in Colorado – Ouray & Telluride.
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Fall doesn’t seem so bad! 🙂
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