Every other month, a group of our friends---we jokingly call ourselves "The Motley Crew"-- take turns to plan an outing where we all visit a local place of interest or have dinner together at the host's home. In September, we visited the historic Argo Mine and Mill, located at 2350 Riverside Dr. in Idaho Springs, Colorado.
On January 5, 1859, during the Colorado gold rush, prospector George A. Jackson discovered placer gold at the present site of Idaho Springs, where Chicago Creek empties into Clear Creek. It was the first substantial gold discovery in Colorado,
and the town became the center of the region's mining district throughout the late nineteenth century.
We took a pre-reserved tour. The tours are professionally guided and last about an hour and a half.
While we waited for our tour to begin, we were able to look at a few exhibits inside the visitor center. The drawing above shows the Argo Mine and Mill on the left and the Mighty Argo Cable Car on the right, which is under construction and is expected to open this year.With only a 10-minute ride, the cable car will reach an elevation gain of 1,300 feet and will provide access to more than 500 acres of hiking and biking trails.
There were old photos of the mining operation on display...
...and examples of minerals and artifacts found in the mine and on the grounds.
The photo will enlarge for easier viewing when clicked on.
The first stop on the tour was the Argo Tunnel, which extends over four miles from Central City to Idaho Springs, under an area of extensive mining. The purpose of the tunnel was to drain problematic water from overlying mines and to provide a direct route to ship ores from the mines to the Argo Mill. The tunnel took 17 years to complete and was the world's longest tunnel when it was completed in 1910. It operated until January 1943, after a major hydraulic accident in the tunnel killed four miners. World War II closed all gold mines, and the Argo Tunnel never reopened.You can read more about the Argo Tunnel and Mine and Mill on the website at this link.
Next, we entered the mill, where we walked from station to station as the tour guide told us the extensive step-by-step process of extracting gold from the ore that contained it.
Various techniques were used to extract gold and other minerals, requiring different machines to process the ore diversity.
An example of a gold ore.
After leaving the Argo Mine and Mill we all visited the charming town of Idaho Springs...
...and enjoyed pizzas at the popular Beau Jo's Pizza, which is known for its distinctive "Mountain Pie" hand-rolled crust.
It was a fun outing to learn more about Colorado's Gold Rush history and end with a delicious treat!
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What a fun idea to make sure you get out and try new things!! I love it. And this looks like a fun outing - was certainly a gorgeous day.
ReplyDeleteHello, Pat
ReplyDeleteInteresting tour and great photos. The pizza looks yummy!
Take care, have a great day!
Very interesting! Colorado has some interesting history and of course beautiful geography. I have been a couple of times to visit, and hope to get back for more. #MMBC
ReplyDeleteHow fun! I love that you do these outings regularly with your Motley Crew. :) I've wanted to explore Idaho Springs, too, but haven't yet. I want to see the actual hot springs there--they've got an indoor part that is essentially also a greenhouse with tropical plants. Looks great for winter months! So I'm happy to know about Argo, too. I didn't realize there were trails up there also. Sounds like a great time. Visiting from Sundays on Silverado. (I'd love to see you sharing your posts at my linkup as well, if you'd like: https://lifetalesbooks.blogspot.com/p/calling-fellow-bloggers.html It just opened an hour ago, and it will be open for the next 9 days.) Wishing you a wonderful week ahead.
ReplyDeleteI almost got confused about Idaho Springs not being in Idaho, ha! What an interesting spot to visit and poke around in. Hope you have a great week ahead!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting
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...what a hard way to make your fortune. My best to the Motley crew, you seem to eat well!!!
ReplyDeletethe motley crew sounds like an amazing group...i would hold tight to those relationships!! i enjoyed the photos, sounds like a great tour. and that pizza looks amazing!!
ReplyDeleteGreat photos! Idaho Springs has so much history, and that pizza looks delicious.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like such a fun and informative tour. We tend to visit gold mines whenever we see any that have touristy things since my oldest was obsessed with gold mining growing up... heck, we still watch Gold Rush every week!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing at https://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2026/01/totally-tommy.html
ReplyDeleteA fascinating place to visit and a lovely way to spend the day with friends
ReplyDeleteI didn’t realize how long the Argo Tunnel was or how important it was to the area.
And that pizza at the end sounds perfect!
What an adventure. It reminds me of various classic films, such as Jack London's ‘The Call of the Wild’. I would love to visit the gold mine too. It's great that you have such a lovely group of friends to do things with.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing at MosaicMonday ☃️
What a terrific idea this is -- mini road trips with friends to interesting places. And this one is fascinating. I had no idea about the Argo Tunnel and your photos really help tell the story. I think I need some pizza.
ReplyDeleteI have visited this place. Great memories!
ReplyDeleteI would love to explore here. I love these kinds of places.
ReplyDeleteThank you for joining the Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop.
Have a fabulous Wordless Wednesday. ♥
What a fascinating outing! The Argo Mine and Mill tour sounds both educational and fun, and ending the day in Idaho Springs with pizza was the perfect touch.
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly looks a fun outing to learn more about Colorado's Gold Rush ... and the pizza looks very tasty.
All the best Jan
The gold mining days were similar all over the world. The pizza looks delicious.
ReplyDeleteAnother great trip with interesting history
ReplyDeleteThat tour looks very interesting. Mines used to be a huge part of our economy. My maternal grandfather worked as a powder man in hard rock mines all over the west. I don't think I could do such a thing but am really fascinated by it all.
ReplyDeleteThose poor miners and I guess even children miners
ReplyDeleteLove the colour and the sign.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting tour. Mining is some serious work and their pay was so little. That pizza looks great! Thank you for linking up and have a great weekend.
ReplyDeleteThat is definitely my kind of day tour.
ReplyDeleteWorth a Thousand Words
How exciting! I love to visit places with such history. It always amazes me how hard our forefathers worked and what they had to live through back in the day. And that pizza looks so incredible!
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