Gold Belt Tour

Length: 131 miles
Driving time: 5 hours

In the early 1890s, the mining towns in the shadow of Pikes Peak enjoyed the greatest gold boom the state has ever known. This 131-mile circuit tours historic Cripple Creek, Florence, McCourt, Adelaide, Wilbur, Victor, and other former gold camps. The roads are narrow and rugged in places - one stretch of the Shelf Road clings to a canyon wall 200 feet above the stream bed - but the payoff comes in the outstanding scenery: majestic Pikes Peak, the unspoiled Beaver Creek Wilderness Study Area, spectacular Royal Gorge, and miles of high-country beauty. Two significant fossil areas — Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument and the Garden Park Dinosaur Fossil Area — lie along the route.

The Gold Belt Tour was designated by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation as a National Scenic Byway in 2000. It is one of 13 America’s Byways® designated in Colorado.

Gold Belt Photo Tour