Going to Breckenridge

What to do in Breckenridge

by Candyce H. Stapen

Unlike some ski areas, Breckenridge began as a real community over 150 years ago. When gold was discovered in the Blue River in 1859, prospectors crowded into town. Merchants built saloons, dry goods stores, and other wooden structures to serve the hopeful. More than 100 of these buildings remain (now converted to modern uses), creating Colorado’s largest historic district. A walk—coupled with a good dose of imagination—conveys the sense of a 19^th-century western mining town.

If that doesn’t do it, go 1,000 feet underground to hear the drills and find out about the hard labor it took to bring gold, silver, lead, and zinc out of the earth at the Country Boy Mine, a working facility from 1887 to 1945.

Instead of precious metals the mountains now yield splendid runs for skiers and...

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