World Museum of Mining

A large open-air museum on the site of the abandoned Orphan Girl Mine, on the western edge of the city. The Orphan Girl's surface buildings — headframe, hoist house, blacksmith's shop — are still in place, surrounded by a reconstructed mining town of around 50 relocated and recreated buildings: schoolhouse, saloon, sauerkraut factory, mortuary.

The underground tour is the highlight and runs in summer only; book ahead. The surface museum is open year-round and could easily eat a half-day on its own. Mid-priced entry; significantly cheaper than the Berkeley Pit's tourist take.

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The museum sits on the wellhead of the Orphan Girl Mine, which yielded silver between 1875 and 1956. Underground tours go 100 feet down into the original workings — visitors put on hardhats and lamps, ride the cage down the shaft, and walk through the same drifts the miners did in the 1900s.