Breckenridge,CO
One stop on our Colorado trip was to the Country Boy Mine in Breckenridge, CO.
The mine is located in literally a mine. The surrounding area driving up is full of old mining areas and gravel and is pretty cool to look at. The mine has a decorative mine building and a spiraling path up to the main mine area. Some people uhem loved it so much they didn’t want to leave at the end-not naming names-threenager.
The mine offers tours and lessons on how to pan for gold. This is an authentic Gold Mine that is out of commission but was very much in use back in the day. The mine is open free to visitors but the tour will cost you. It was well worth it though.
The area has a fun but super fast slide for kiddos and adults. An area filled with artifacts and wagons fun for taking pictures. The scenes are amazing as well.
The tour consists of roughly 45 minutes in a confined, dark, wet gold mine. They provide mandatory hard hats and raincoats and during the summer you will get wet due to melting glaciers. Pretty neat! (Selfies in the dark are hard!)
You need to wear outdoor shoes for this one because the area you walk in the mine is narrow and wet. You learn all about mining life. It was amazing. I was however ready to walk out once we were done so if you’re not into tight dark spaces you may want to sit this one out.
The end of the tour brought us to a building where we were taught how to pan for gold. You’re able to go out to a running stream and pan for gold yourself. I think we got a flake of fools gold.
So much fun and definitely something to add to your list while visiting Colorado! You will get dirty and you will need a coat for the mine-it’s a bit chilly, even in the summer!