Gold Hill was the first mining camp in Colorado. It still retains its Old West appearance and flavor.
It's a great quick weekend getaway drive. Scenic lookout points provide beautiful vistas of the mountains. I found a bunch of absolutely PERFECT pine cones which I'll use for holiday decorating this year ... never seen any quite so perfect :)
Gold Hill is perched on a mountainside above Left Hand Canyon at an elevation of 8,300 feet. According to Wikipedia, it was originally a mining camp and the site of the first major discovery of gold during the 1859 Colorado Gold Rush. It remained an important mining camp throughout the late 19th century, with a population approaching 1500 at its height, before falling into decline. It has been revived somewhat in recent years as a quiet isolated haven, with no paved streets, but easily accessed by dirt roads.The town contains numerous historic wooden structures, some restored in recent years, as well decaying ruins from its mining heyday. It has a small museum and two-room schoolhouse, the Gold Hill School, which since 1873 has been the oldest continuously operating public school in Colorado. Other businesses include a General Store and a restored inn listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The town is laid out on a small grid of dirt streets.
Gold Hill is sometimes labeled a ghost town, which is an inaccurate designation. Gold Hill is part of unincorporated Boulder County, and while it does not have a municipal government, it does have an active town meeting with elected officials.
