We average 310 days of sunshine each year. Average snowfall annually is a whopping 200+ inches with snow on ground from the end of October until middle of May. A typical summer day is sunny, in the 70s, and evening temperatures in the 40s. The humidity is very low and brief afternoon showers are not unexpected. A typical winter day is sunny and bright with highs averaging in the mid 30s and lows in the single digits.

Leadville/Lake County and Twin Lakes can be reached by automobile or by flying into Denver, Colorado Springs, or the Eagle County Airport. Car rentals are available at the airports.

This narrow guage line leaves from Leadville's century-old depot and travels over the old Colorado and Southern highline, following the head waters of the Arkansas River up to a spectacular view of Fremont Pass.

Leadville/Lake County and Twin Lakes can be reached by automobile or by flying into Denver, Colorado Springs, or the Eagle County Airport. Car rentals are available at the airports.

The Lake County Airport does not have commercial service but can be accessed by private craft.

Limited bus transportation available or private transportation arrangements may also be made.

Leadville can be reached by CO Highway 91 or US Highway 24. US Highway 24 between Leadville and Minturn is also the 10th Mountain Division Memorial Highway. All of our roads are maintained for year-round travel, making Leadville and Lake County easily accessible.

Then it's down to the French Gulch water tower to view Mt. Elbert, one of Colorado's highest peaks.

Leadville, Colorado, seat of Lake County, central Colorado, in the Rocky Mountains, at an altitude of 10,200 ft, near the headwaters of the Arkansas River; incorporated 1878. It is a mining and processing center for lead and zinc ores and for molybdenum (recovered in great quantities at nearby Climax). Many tourists visit the city, the points of interest of which include the Matchless Mine, the Tabor Opera House (1879), and museums exhibiting relics from the silver-mining days of the late 19th century. Settlement of the area began in 1859-60 at the nearby gold-mining camp of Oro City, which flourished until 1866. In the 1870s carbonates of lead with a high silver content were discovered, and in 1877 the community (named Leadville in 1878) was laid out as the mining center. It grew rapidly, reaching a population of approximately 35,000 in 1880, but declined when silver prices fell in 1893. A gold boom began in the late 1890s, and iron ore, copper, bismuth, lead and zinc ores, and manganese have also been mined in the region. Molybdenum mining began at Climax in 1924. Population 3,879 (1980); 2,629 (1990); 2,821 (2000).

At the hub of the Top of the Rockies Byway is the historic city of Leadville, North America's highest incorporated city (10,430 feet elevation), and the frontier West's wildest, richest, silver mining boom town.