Leadville Colorado & Southern Railroad

The Leadville, Colorado and Southern Railroad offers some of the most stunning high-altitude excursions in North America, climbing from the charming Victorian mining city of Leadville — the highest incorporated city in the United States at 10,152 feet — through magnificent alpine terrain to an elevation of nearly 11,200 feet above sea level. The railroad operates over historic track originally constructed in 1884 by the Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad to serve the booming silver and lead mining district of Lake County. Diesel-powered vintage coaches wind through meadows carpeted with wildflowers in summer and aspen groves ablaze with gold in autumn, offering sweeping panoramic views of the Sawatch Range, including the famous Collegiate Peaks — Colorado’s highest concentration of 14,000-foot summits. The two-and-a-half-hour round-trip excursion crosses the headwaters of the Arkansas River and passes through terrain rich in mining history, with interpretive narration explaining the region’s dramatic past. The historic Leadville depot, a beautifully preserved Victorian-era structure, serves as the departure point and houses a small museum dedicated to the railroad’s history and the region’s colorful mining heritage.