Leadville is the highest incorporated city in the United States, sitting at 10,152 feet in the heart of the Colorado Rockies. The town is squeezed between two of Colorado's highest peaks — Mount Elbert (14,439 feet) and Mount Massive (14,421 feet) — and the thin air hits you the moment you step out of the car. It is a genuine former mining boomtown that has managed to keep its character without turning into a resort.
In the 1880s, Leadville was one of the largest cities in Colorado, flush with silver money and packed with saloons, opera houses, and grand hotels. The boom went bust, but the Victorian architecture survived. Harrison Avenue, the main street, is lined with well-preserved brick buildings. The National Mining Hall of Fame tells the boomtown story with a walk-through replica mine shaft. The Tabor Opera House, built by silver baron Horace Tabor in 1879, has been partially restored and hosts occasional performances. The Healy House and Dexter Cabin offer a more intimate look at Victorian domestic life. The Matchless Mine east of town preserves the cabin where Baby Doe Tabor lived in poverty until her death in 1935. The Temple Israel Museum on West Fourth Street is the only intact nineteenth-century synagogue in Colorado.
The Leadville 100, a grueling 100-mile ultramarathon through the surrounding mountains, has made the town famous in the running world. But you do not need to run a hundred miles to enjoy the area. The Mineral Belt Trail is a paved 11.6-mile loop around town with views of the surrounding peaks. In winter, Ski Cooper offers uncrowded, affordable skiing just north of town on Tennessee Pass.