Colorado Mines Museum of Earth Science Part 1

Mines Museum, located at 1310 Maple Street, in the Colorado School of Mines campus in Golden, Colorado had its beginnings in 1874 with the collection of geologist, Arthur Lakes.  It includes the historic Colorado State Mineral Collection created by the Bureau of Mines in the 1890s. The museum serves as the state repository for Colorado’s mineral heritage. It showcases the most extensive public collection of minerals from Colorado, along with examples from around the USA and the world, as well as two goodwill moon rocks collected during the Apollo 17 mission.

My husband and I arranged a visit to the museum with friends in October.  It was the second time that we had visited the museum-- click here to see that post--and we knew the friends who had not been here would enjoy the visit. 

If you click on each photo x 2 it will enlarge to its fullest size for easier viewing of the labels in the displays of minerals, fossils, meteorites, and gems.

There were so many displays on two floors, so I decided to make this a two-part blog post so I can include most of my photos.

I was always a rock hound, an avid collector of rocks when I was a child and I wish I had a museum such as this one to visit when I was young, as I might have pursued geology as a career!  

 I still pick up rocks from different locations so that I can learn more about them. Colorado has a very diverse geology, so I'm constantly fascinated by all that I see as we travel around the state.

The Mines Museum is housed in a newly built building that was completed in 2003.  It also displays gold, silver, and copper in their original form, fossils, meteorites, and mining artifacts, in its well-lit clear glass display cases and shelves.

There is an entire room full of examples of gold mined from different areas in Colorado and also around the world. It was easy to see how this element created the Gold Rush frenzy in the middle 1800s both in the mountains of California and Colorado.

The Mines Museum attracts 30,000 visitors a year!

The Mines Museum has more than 2,000 items currently on display and more than 40,000 total items in its collection, so there will always be something new to see. They regularly rotate exhibits to provide fresh educational experiences and displays for their visitors to enjoy.

I particularly enjoyed seeing the display of these North Table Mountain rocks and minerals. as seen in the collage above. There was a view of North Table Mountain in the distance from the window next to the display. My husband and I hiked to the top of that mountain a few summers ago and it was like entering another world! You can see that post on this link.

The museum also has Mineral ID days where one can bring in objects from your private collection to have a geologist identify them.  Those days are posted on the website.

One of the best things about the museum is that Admission is FREE!

Regular Hours: Mon. – Sat. 9AM-4PM and Sun. 1PM-4PM

(CLOSED JULY 4TH, CHRISTMAS DAY, AND NEW YEAR’S DAY)

All groups of 10 or more visitors are required to schedule their visit at least 48 hours in advance. If you do not schedule your visit in advance, you may not be admitted into the museum due to current capacity limits.  See the website for more information.

The Museum also offers paid guided tours for groups of 15 people or less. For groups larger than 15 people, please email museumevents@mines.edu.  See the website for more information.

Click on and enlarge more photos to view just a small sample of the displays  ...

Weren't they all so beautiful?

In my next post, I'll show the moon rocks, meteorites, fossils, and the sparkling Miss Colorado Crown containing over 600 gemstones and 21 diamonds that we also viewed at the museum.  I hope you'll come back to see more!

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Pumpkin Cornbread

A view of the original cattle rancher's mansion The Manor House in our Colorado foothill valley.  We average an elevation of 6,000 feet (1828.8 m) in our valley so fall color fades quickly and our first snowfalls arrive early.  We've already had two snowstorms, but both melted quickly under our usual sunny skies.

Most of the leaves have fallen from our trees and the deer have been enjoying eating them! We often leave a pile of leaves in a rocky part of our yard as we've noticed the deer will dig through the winter snow to find them.  

As I promised in my last post here is the recipe, shared with me by a friend, for a variation of a sweet pumpkin loaf cake made with cornmeal and coconut.  It is moist and delicious!

 Pumpkin Cornbread --- Pan de Maize y Calabaza Bread

Oven - 350 degrees.

Grease and flour a loaf pan.

In a bowl, whisk together:

1/2 cup oil

1 cup sugar

1 cup pumpkin

3/4 cup coconut milk

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In another bowl, whisk together:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup cornmeal

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

generous 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

generous 1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon salt

Blend both mixtures. Pour into the loaf pan.

Bake until done, about 45 minutes or so.

I roasted and pureed pie pumpkins to make my own puree which I froze in one-cup measurements. I've used it for my favorite pumpkin bread and the recipe I shared above.  

"In November, the earth is growing quiet. It is making its bed, a winter bed for flowers and small creatures. The bed is white and silent, and much life can hide beneath its blankets." 

~ Cynthia Rylant

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