Idaho Springs is positioned at the entrance to the high country, and the road west on I-70 opens up quickly into some of Colorado's best scenery. The ski resorts at Breckenridge, Keystone, and Arapahoe Basin are all within an hour's drive over Loveland Pass or through the Eisenhower Tunnel — in summer these operate as hiking and mountain biking destinations.
Mount Evans is the most compelling day trip from Idaho Springs itself. The Mount Evans Scenic Byway climbs from the town up to 14,130 feet at the summit parking area, one of the highest paved roads in North America. The drive passes through alpine tundra above treeline, and mountain goats and bighorn sheep are commonly seen near the summit. The byway is typically open from late May or early June through mid-October, depending on snow.
Georgetown, just twelve miles west on I-70, is a well-preserved Victorian silver-mining town with a good collection of nineteenth-century architecture and the Georgetown Loop Railroad, a narrow-gauge tourist railway that runs between Georgetown and Silver Plume on a dramatic loop of trestle bridges. Central City and Black Hawk, two other historic mining towns turned casino districts, sit about fifteen miles to the north via Highway 119.